Shell WindEnergy planning 160 Mw wind farm southeast of Lubbock, Tex.

Shell WindEnergy Inc. is planning a 160 Mw wind farm 90 miles southeast of Lubbock, Tex., in Scurry and Borden counties, as a 50:50 joint venture with Padoma Wind Power, La Jolla, Calif.

July 25, 2003

2 min read

By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, July 25 -- Shell WindEnergy Inc. is planning a 160 Mw wind farm 90 miles southeast of Lubbock, Tex., in Scurry and Borden counties, as a 50:50 joint venture with Padoma Wind Power, La Jolla, Calif.

The Brazos wind farm, expected to be completed by Dec. 31, will consist of 160 Mitsubishi MWT 1000-A wind turbines, some of which will stand some 226 ft tall and weigh more than 170 tons. The total output from the wind farm will generate enough electricity to power 30,000 homes.

The wind farm is being developed by Cielo Wind Power LLC, Austin, Tex., and Orion Energy LLC, Oakland, Calif. The Dallas-based TXU Corp. has agreed to purchase electricity generated by the wind farm. Shell WindEnergy will be the operator.

David Jones, director of Shell WindEnergy, said: "Brazos is twice the size of our previous biggest project and, at a stroke, will increase our installed gross capacity in the US from 232 Mw to 392 Mw."

Shell WindEnergy currently owns four US wind parks: the 50 Mw Rock River I in Wyoming, the 80 Mw White Deer in Texas, and the 41 Mw Cabazon and the 61 Mw Whitewater Hill, both in California.

In other news, Shell WindEnergy also announced it acquired a 40% share of the La Muela Wind Park in northeast Spain from TXU Europe Energy Trading BV. The transaction marks the beginning of commercial-scale wind operations in Europe for the Royal Dutch/Shell Group. Shell WindEnergy is part of Shell Renewables.