NEW YORK - Duke Energy said on Thursday it brought two new wind power projects on line and said it would use Siemens Energy wind turbines as well as General Electric turbines at a planned Wyoming wind farm.

Growth in wind power has slowed this year due to the crisis in credit markets, but the United States is still expected to add about 6,000 MW of wind capacity, equivalent to about six coal-fired power plants.

The U.S. government has recently awarded about $1 billion in new grants to wind projects in a bid to help stimulate development of the clean power systems.

With the two new projects, Duke has 634 megawatts of wind power in operation, and expects that figure to reach 733 MW by the end of the year.

The new wind projects include the 70 MW North Allegheny Windpower Project in Pennsylvania, which will supply electricity to FirstEnergy, and the 42 MW Silver Sage project in Cheyenne, Wyoming, which will supply Cheyenne Light Fuel & Power and the Platte River Power Authority.

Duke said it has signed a supply agreement with Siemens to buy 44 turbines for its Top of the World project planned for Caspar, Wyoming.

The company had already agreed to buy 66 General Electric turbines for that project, which will have a capacity of 200 MW when completed. (Reporting by Matt Daily; Editing by Derek Caney)

Pennsylvania