Texas Gulf Coast Full of Wind
There’s a strong wind blowing in coastal Texas. Literally. And energy companies are setting up to harness those breezes and convert them to electricity. North and West Texas already produce more wind energy than anyone else in the country. Now, new wind farms along the coast are starting to pop up.
Two wind farms located south of Corpus Christi are scheduled to start producing energy before the end of the year. Australian based Babcock and Brown started a $700 million project last year on 300 acres of land in Kenedy County. It will consist of 118 wind turbines that will generate 283 megawatts per year, or enough electricity to power 60,000 homes. The electricity will be sold in the Texas wholesale electricity market.
Just up the road and also in Kenedy County, Iberdrola Renewables, ( previously PPM Energy), based in Portland, Oregon, is constructing the Penascal Wind Farm. It will consist of 84 wind turbines that will produce 202 megawatts of electricity each year, sufficient to power 40,000 homes. It will also occupy around 300 acres. PPM recently announced it has reached a 15 year agreement with San Antonio’s municipal power company, CPS, under which CPS will purchase over 40% of PPM’s yearly output, 75 megawatts, enough to supply electricity for around 17,500 homes per year.
Wind Energy Systems Technology (WEST), based in New Iberia, Louisiana, with an office in Houston, is planning an offshore wind farm, locating its windmills on old oil platforms. It will be located seven miles southeast of Galveston. Plans are to build fifty to sixty turbines, at a cost of $300 million, which will produce 150 megawatts per year, or enough for 30,000 homes. The WEST turbines are expected to be producing by 2010.
Houston-based Hydro Green Energy, LLC and WEST have also teamed up to study the feasibility of a combined wind/hydro power operation. The hydro-power side of the venture would harness ocean waves to create electricity. The combination of wind and wave energy together on the offshore platforms could result in the sharing of transmission line placement, construction costs and maintenance costs.
Although wind energy is renewable and doesn’t have the pollution problems of coal or oil facilities, environmental concerns have been raised, mainly regarding the migration patterns of birds. The main issue is whether the large blades of the windmills either kill large numbers of birds or alter their traditional migration routes. Iberdrola Renewables’ Communication Director, Jan Johnson, says they are aware of these concerns and are taking action to make sure their impact on nature is minimized. Johnson says PPM has studied migration patterns and even monitored local bird movements with radar. “We identified areas of higher bird traffic, and have relocated some of the turbines to less trafficked areas”, she said. A lawsuit filed to stop construction of the Kenedy County wind farms due to concern over the avian issues was dismissed.
Another project close to being approved is a small wind farm located in the Port of Corpus Christi. Colorado-based Revolution Energy is negotiating with the Port authorities to construct wind turbines on Port-owned land. The $65 million construction project would make the Port of Corpus Christi the first port in the country to have renewable power generation facilities located on its property.
Corpus Christi is also considering putting in small, self contained wind turbines to help power portions of a new downtown waterfront development.
