FEATURE ARTICLE, AUGUST 2011

GENERATION WIND: TEXAS BLOWS NATION AWAY
Daniel Beaird

With a near constant wind speed of 17 miles per hour, vast open spaces of land and transmission lines that are under used, West Texas and the Texas panhandle present some of the best opportunities in the country for successful wind farm operations. On top of the natural landscape, a federal tax credit encourages investors, most of them dry-land cotton farmers, to invest in wind power. Add to that a Texas state law the requires utilities to buy renewable power and it equals Texas leading the nation in development of renewable energy with more wind generation capacity than any other state with more than 9,000 megawatts (MWs) — Iowa is second with more than 3,000 MWs. New power lines are under development that will allow wind developers to more than double the current amount of wind in Texas during the next few years. And the best part: it is essentially pollution free. Wind farms do not generate carbon dioxide and do not need water. 

The development of wind farms has energized economies throughout West Texas and the panhandle. The city of Roscoe, Texas is home to the largest wind farm in the world, checking in at 781.5 MWs. The Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center in Taylor, Texas, is second with 735.5 MWs. Texas Real Estate Business presents a profile on Roscoe and Horse Hollow. 

Roscoe Wind Farm

The megawatts produced by the Roscoe Wind Farm would equate into 2 million tons of carbon dioxide if produced by a coal fire plant. It all began with a Roscoe cotton farmer named Cliff Etheredge. He organized landowners, took his own wind speed measurements and sought out investors. Dublin, Ireland-based Airtricity bought in, spending more than $1 billion installing more than 600 wind turbines. Much of the Texas wind energy boom is being sourced through foreign companies with experience developing wind energy projects.

Today, Roscoe Wind Farm’s 781.5 MWs is the equivalent of powering 265,000 homes. The cotton farmers and landowners in Roscoe that used to suffer through droughts and blame the wind are singing its praises today. A single wind turbine can bring an owner from $5,000 to $15,000 per year in profits, and many own more than 10 wind turbines. Roscoe Wind Farm has more than 400 individual landowners. E.ON Climate and Renewables completed the world’s largest wind farm in 2009. It spans four counties and covers approximately 100,000 acres. Mitsubishi, General Electric and Siemens manufactured the Roscoe Wind Farm’s turbines. 

Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center

The wind energy center in Taylor, Texas wasn’t exactly off to an inconspicuous start when its developer, Juno Beach, Florida-based FPL Energy, had a suit brought in 2005 on a private nuisance charge against the Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center. The plaintiffs claimed the wind turbines at the farm created enough noise to constitute a private nuisance. However, the court ruled in favor of FPL Energy and the Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center. The facility consists of more than 400 wind turbines and covers more than 47,000 acres. Located 20 miles southwest of Abilene, Texas, the wind energy center stood as the largest in the world until the Roscoe Wind Farm was completed in 2009. NextEra Energy Resources owns and operates the Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center, which was built in three phases. Horse Hollow I consists of 213 MWs, Horse Hollow II has 299 MWs and Horse Hollow III is made up of 223.5 MWs. The last two phases began operation in 2006. General Electric and Siemens manufactured the farm’s turbines.  

Texas is an ideal case study for wind energy development. With its fast growing cities, sparsely populated land and helpful regulatory environment, wind energy development can prosper. However, electricity from wind remains costlier than that from fossil fuels, and wind power is also unpredictable. Fuel sources, including coal, can generate power all day, not just when the wind is blowing. Those powerful 20-story wind turbines, however, are built to capture power even with the weakest of winds.

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