Vestas Secures Significant Repowering Order

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Vestas’ recent 359 MW order to repower a portfolio of three Texas wind farms represents its largest repowering order to date.

As announced earlier this week, Phoenix Wind Repower LLC, part of Ares Management Corp., acquired the three projects from BP Wind Energy North America Inc. and announced they would be repowered by Vestas. Phoenix Wind Repower LLC is a portfolio investment of a fund managed by Ares’ infrastructure and power strategy.

Vestas will replace the existing Clipper turbines with V110-2.2 MW turbines at the Trinity Hills, Sherbino Mesa II and Silver Star wind projects. According to the turbine manufacturer, the total capacity of the portfolio is 383 MW, including previously purchased Vestas components qualifying for the production tax credit.


Vestas explains that repowering existing and aging wind projects with new wind turbine technology offers substantial returns from increased annual energy production and reduced operating costs. Through repowering, owners and operators benefit by replacing old equipment with advanced technology while lowering operating costs.

“We’re thrilled to partner with Ares’ infrastructure and power strategy as they expand their wind portfolio and move to deliver profitable returns for their customer through the long-term, sustainable and reliable wind industry,” says Chris Brown, president of Vestas’ sales and service and division in the U.S. and Canada. “With the exponential advancements in wind technology over the last decade, the turbines of today barely resemble the turbines of yesterday. Through repowering these projects, we’ll unlock even more value through the lifetime performance of these projects.”

The order includes the supply, installation and commissioning of the turbines, as well as 10-year Active Output Management 5000 (AOM 5000) service agreements for each project, designed to ensure optimized performance of the asset. Turbine delivery will begin in the fourth quarter of 2019.

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ClipperJames
ClipperJames
5 years ago

@TomTX The Clipper Liberty turbines to be replaced are 2.5 MW capacity each and were installed in Texas in the 2009-2011 time frame. I was up-tower at Silverstar wind farm shortly after completion. I would estimate a one for one replacement of the Clipper Liberty nacelles and looks to include an additional quantity of Vestas 2.2 MW turbines. I’m now researching if the 2.5 MW towers are to be reused. That result is interesting to me.

UncaNed
UncaNed
5 years ago

Yeah! What TomTX says! How many turbines, efficiency improvements, please.

TomTX
TomTX
5 years ago

Would be nice for a bit more detail on output of the old turbines vs new, both on a per-tubine and per-project basis. I expect it’s less dramatic than some of the Altamont repowerings (replacing tiny old turbines roughly 1 for 20) because Texas wind tends to be newer – interesting to know for sure.

Thank you!