Hurrying towards its goal to begin construction of the Kingdom Community Wind (KCW) project in August 2011, Vermont utility Green Mountain Power (GMP) announced that it has selected Vestas Wind Systems A/S (OTC: VWDRY.PK) to provide the project's wind turbines.
Last week, the Vermont Public Service Board approved the KCW project so long as GMP met several conditions including selecting the final turbines and preparing the site plan.
Vestas will provide 21 of its V112 3.0 MW turbines for the KCW project which will combine to generate 63 MW of clean, renewable energy to both GMP customers and Vermont Electric Cooperative (VEC) members.
Perhaps the bigger news for the rate payers is that the efficient V112 3.0 turbine will lower the cost of purchasing the wind facility's electricity. According to GMP, the project's levelized energy costs will drop from 10.3 cents per kWh to a projected 9.2 cents, which the company claims to be "well below the price for similar renewable energy projects."
Located in Lowell, Vermont, the Kingdom Community Wind Farm, which will be GMP's second wind power facility, is expected to generate eight percent of all the electricity the company's 175,000 customers consume, and four percent of the electricity Vermont Electric Cooperative members consume.
"We are tremendously pleased that we have been able to make this renewable energy project even more affordable for our customers and VEC members," said Mary Powell, president and chief executive officer of Green Mountain Power.
Image Credit: H Dragon via Flickr
Joseph Baker is a freelance writer living in Vancouver BC. His areas of focus include renewable energy, sustainability and climate change.
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