Wind Farm off Texas Coast

Wind farm to be built off Texas coast

LYNN BREZOSKY
Associated Press

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas - Texas officials announced plans Thursday
for the nation's largest offshore wind farm, consisting of as many as
500 windmills out in the Gulf of Mexico.

Houston-based Superior Renewable Energy will build and operate the
project, which will be situated within about 10 miles of Padre Island.
It is expected to cost $1 billion to $2 billion and should be ready in
five years.

Its 400-foot turbines would generate a total of 500 megawatts of
electricity, or enough energy for 125,000 homes.

"The wind rush is on," Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson said.
"We want to be No. 1. We want to attract the businesses that build the
turbines, that build the blades."

Some environmentalists said the spinning blades could kill countless
rare birds that migrate through the area each year on their way to and
from winter grounds in Mexico and Central America.

"You probably couldn't pick a worse location," said Walter
Kittelberger, chairman of the Lower Laguna Madre Foundation, an
environmental group named for the strip of water between the mainland
and Padre Island.

John Calaway, Superior's chief executive, said the company would do
everything possible to reduce the threat to migrating birds. "Of course
there's going to be some mortality, but we don't think it will be
significant," he said.

Patterson said the wind farm would be situated off a remote,
unpopulated part of Padre Island National Seashore. People who are
concerned about the farm obstructing the ocean view "shouldn't have a
problem," he said. "There's nobody there to look at it."

The offshore farm is the second announced in less than a year for the
Texas coast, joining 50 wind turbines planned off Galveston.

Jerome Collins of the Sierra Club said his and other groups support
wind energy and hoped to work with enery producers to prevent bird
deaths and protect the scenic landscape.

According to the American Wind Energy Association, the U.S. produces
9,149 megawatts of wind power, enough to power 2.3 million homes
annually. The largest U.S. wind farm is the Stateline Wind Energy
Center on the Oregon-Washington line, producing 300 megawatts of
electricity.

The Texas announcement comes amid a bitter fight over a proposed
130-turbine wind farm off Cape Cod, Mass., where residents fear the
turbines will be unsightly.

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: OT T Boone Pickens
    ... The common German design used around here is a fixed 22.5 rpm irrespective of wind speed from minimum to max for voltage control. ... The largest wind farm in Kansas, it features 170 giant turbines with a generating capacity ... megawatts, which would be 10 percent of its rated output. ...
    (alt.home.repair)
  • Re: Wind Farm off Texas Coast
    ... Will costs come down as ... >for the nation's largest offshore wind farm, ... >According to the American Wind Energy Association, ...
    (soc.retirement)
  • Re: Wind Farm off Texas Coast
    ... Granted that the technology may have changed, but I live on a barrier island ... he erected one of those unsightly wind generators on his ... >for the nation's largest offshore wind farm, ... >According to the American Wind Energy Association, ...
    (soc.retirement)
  • Mammoth wind Farm Proposed in Iowa
    ... Mammoth $200M wind farm proposed in Iowa ... Franklin County Wind Farm would help Iowa keep pace with those states ...
    (soc.retirement)
  • Texas plans nations largest offshore wind farm off Padre Island
    ... Texas plans nation's largest offshore wind farm off Padre Island ... Superior Renewable Energy Inc., based in Houston, would build the farm ...
    (rec.windsurfing)