WORLD’S BIGGEST WIND IN TEXAS

Massive Texas wind farm operating
John McFarland, October 1, 2009 (AP)

"The world's largest wind farm [is] officially…up and running…[A]ll 627 towering wind turbines [are] churning out electricity across 100,000 acres of West Texas farmland.

"The Roscoe Wind Complex, which began construction in 2007 and sprawls across four counties near Roscoe, is generating its full capacity of 781.5 megawatts, enough to power 230,000 homes, the German company E.ON Climate and Renewables North America said…[It is] 300 miles south of the land where billionaire oilman T. Boone Pickens had planned an even larger wind farm before he scrapped the idea…"

The rich get richer: Looks like Texas is going to have another big quarter and another big year. (click to enlarge)

"Texas leads the nation in wind power production, and this wind farm tops the capacity record of 735.5 megawatts set by another West Texas farm…Renewable energy makes up a small fraction of the electricity grid, but the wind and solar sectors were among the fastest growing in the U.S. before the recession. Wind power in Texas has grown again this year but has slowed from the 2008 rate…

"At the Roscoe wind farm, the turbines range in size from about 350 to 415 feet tall, and they're generally spaced about 900 feet apart…The land is leased, mostly from dryland cotton farmers who continue to work the fields around them…Texas is the nation's leading producer of cotton, most of it from West Texas…"

In them old cotton fields with wind... (click to enlarge)

"…[One of the top 10 wind power companies in the world,] E.ON has facilities around the state, but it could be awhile before the company builds more huge wind farms in West Texas because of the glut of wind companies and lack of transmission lines…The state is planning more lines from West Texas to more heavily populated areas, but they won't be completed for at least two more years.

"Pickens cited the transmission problem when he bailed out on his planned wind farm. He had already invested $2 billion in 687 turbines when he pulled the plug on the 200,000-acre project…"