TXU Electric & Gas, a unit of TXU Corp., said it has agreed to buy 31.5 Mw from a soon-to-be constructed 82.5-Mw wind farm near Pecos, Tex. In July, TXU announced a contract to purchase renewable energy from a 160 Mw wind farm in west Texas and is also buying power from a 40 Mw wind farm near Big Spring, Tex.
The UK's National Wind Power Ltd. (NWP), a unit of National Power PLC, and Orion Energy LLC, Oakland, Calif., are developing the Indian Mesa Wind Farm in Pecos County, which will begin with the installation of an initial 82.5 Mw of Vestas turbines. The land where the wind farm will be located is owned by the University of Texas System and local land owners. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Construction is expected to begin in mid-September. TXU said consumers should begin receiving electricity from the Indian Mesa project during the second quarter of 2001.
David Butterworth, head of international development at National Wind Power, said the first phase of the Indian Mesa will be the company's largest project to date. NWP is the largest developer, owner, and operator of wind farms in the UK and jointly develops wind energy facilities in the US with Orion Energy.
Earlier, Houston's Reliant Energy Inc. said it will buy electricity from a new $150 million 200 Mw wind power project being developed in Upton County near McCamey in west Texas. The wind power project will be located on 3,141-ft King Mountain. Reliant said it expects to begin purchasing electricity from the project by the fourth quarter of 2001.
These projects will help in meeting Texas's legally mandated requirement to have 2,000 Mw of new renewable power projects developed by Jan. 1, 2009. The renewable energy requirement was a provision of SB 7, the law restructuring the state electricity market.