Duke acquires Catamount Energy for large scale wind operation

Duke Energy announced the acquisition of Catamount Energy Corporation from funds affiliated with Diamond Castle Holdings, LLC, a transaction that will significantly increase Duke Energy’s wind energy operations.

“This acquisition reinforces Duke Energy’s commitment to clean, renewable energy as a major component of electricity generation throughout the United States,” said Wouter van Kempen, president of Duke Energy Generation Services (DEGS), a business unit of Duke Energy that owns and develops renewable energy assets.

Catamount Energy was formed in 1992. Since 2001, the company has focused on developing wind projects in the United States and United Kingdom. Catamount has approximately 300 megawatts of renewable energy in operation, including its interests in the Sweetwater project in Texas, which is one of the largest wind projects in the world.

The acquisition, valued at approximately $240 million plus assumed debt, is a continuation of Duke Energy’s strategy to develop renewable energy. In May 2007, Duke purchased Tierra Energy, a leading wind developer in Austin, Texas. The combined entity will have more than 5,000 megawatts of wind energy under development in 12 states and approximately 500 megawatts of operating assets by the end of 2008.

This announcement follows several other recent renewable initiatives announced by Duke Energy, including a $100 million plan to install electricity generating solar panels at up to 850 North Carolina sites; a plan to purchase electricity output from the nation’s largest photovoltaic solar farm to be built in Davidson County, North Carolina; a 20-year contract to purchase 100 megawatts from a wind farm in Indiana; and a request for proposals to purchase significant amounts of electricity from renewable energy providers in Ohio.