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Vestas-American Wind Technology Inc. (Portland, OR, US) announced on Dec. 27 that it has received a 359 MW order to repower a portfolio of three projects in Texas from Phoenix Wind Repower LLC, which is a portfolio investment of a fund managed by the Infrastructure and Power strategy of Ares Management Corp. (Los Angeles, CA, US), a global alternative asset manager. The order is Vestas’ largest repowering order to date. The total capacity of the portfolio is 383 MW, including the previously purchased Vestas PTC components.  

With this order, Vestas will replace the existing Clipper turbines with V110-2.2 MW turbines at the Trinity Hills (Olney, TX, US), Sherbino Mesa II (Pecos County, TX, US), and Silver Star (Stephenville, TX, US) wind projects.

Repowering existing and aging wind projects with new wind turbine technology reportedly offers substantial returns from increased annual energy production and reduced 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 US 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 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.