Monday, August 31, 2009 at 2:38:45 PM - by Danny Vo

Western states are the home of a growing number of solar energy and wind power projects, with another large facility announced just this week.

According to Duke Energy, it plans to develop a 200-megawatt wind project near the city of Casper, Wyoming. The facility, dubbed The Top of the World Windpower Project, will be the company's ninth in the U.S. and its fourth in the state of Wyoming.

The company expects the project to go online in 2010, bringing with it the ability to power up to 60,000 homes each year.

Wouter van Kempen of Duke Energy indicated in the announcement that the planned facility will be the company's second largest wind project, and is one of four similar projects that are expected to generate a total of 360 megawatts of electricity. In the coming years, the company could have up to 5,000 megawatts of wind energy generated from various projects.

Wind is one part of the emerging renewable energy industry in the west, with photovoltaic arrays and concentrated solar energy facilities also set to make a significant impact.