| For Immediate Release : | 21 March 2005 |
| Contact Details: | |
| Name: | Anna Stanford, Media Officer |
| Phone: | +44 (0)1795 536667 |
| Cell Phone: | +44 (0)776 1103465 |
| Email: | anna.stanford@res-ltd.com |
RES America Construction Inc
has won a contract to build a 150MW wind project in southeastern Washington State, USA, for the energy utility Puget Sound Energy (PSE)
. A formal notice to proceed was issued by PSE on 11 March 2005 and construction is under way, with completion of the project scheduled for nine months’ time.
The Hopkins Ridge wind project will comprise 83 Vestas 1.8MW wind turbines
. This is the RES Group’s first project for PSE, but its third in Washington State. To date RES has completed over 700MW of wind energy capacity across the United States and has several hundred MW currently in development in North America.
Dr Ian Mays, Managing Director of the RES Group, welcomed the deal;
“This is the RES Group’s second largest turnkey project and demonstrates our commitment to the North American market. We expect to be constructing more than 10% of the US wind energy capacity likely to be added this year."
Commenting on the Hopkins Ridge project, Vic Fryling, Chairman of RES America, added;
“The Hopkins Ridge site has a superior wind resource resulting in an extremely competitive levelized cost of energy for Puget Sound Energy. In addition, the seasonality of the project’s wind resource has the unique characteristics of matching PSE’s seasonal load requirements.”
Puget Sound Energy acquired the Hopkins Ridge Wind Project from Blue Sky Wind LLC, a subsidiary of RES America Developments. PSE will be the sole owner of the project.
| Notes to Editors | |
1 | The Renewable Energy Systems Group of companies is one of the world’s leading wind energy development, construction and operation companies and is part of the large British construction and engineering group, Sir Robert McAlpine. RES America, based in Texas and Oregon, is leading the RES Group’s activities in North America. In 2002 and 2003 RES built the Nine Canyon I and II projects in Washington State for Energy Northwest. To date, the RES Group has completed over 900MW of wind energy capacity worldwide and is active in key markets around the world. For more information, visit www.res-ltd.com |
2 | Puget Sound Energy is Washington State’s largest and oldest energy utility, serving nearly 1 million electric customers and more than 668,000 natural gas customers, primarily in the vibrant Puget Sound region. A subsidiary of Puget Energy (NYSE:PSD), the utility is meeting its customers’ future energy needs with an ongoing initiative to secure sufficient energy supplies and build adequate energy-delivery infrastructure - at the lowest possible cost. PSE is pursuing the development or purchase of additional power-generating resources. Renewable resources, such as wind power, and expanded conservation services also are integral parts of this long-term strategy. |
3 | Hopkins Ridge is located approximately 15 miles northeast of Dayton, Wash. The site area is 11,000 acres. |
ENDS