Pampa Wind Project
Encyclopedia
Mesa Power, a company controlled by former Texas
oilman, T. Boone Pickens, planned to build the world's largest wind farm
, called the Pampa Wind Project, as part of the Pickens Plan
. The proposed 4,000 MW facility was to be located near Pampa, Texas
, which is on the Texas Panhandle
, and stretch to the east, spanning 400000 acres (1,618.7 km²) in five counties. This would provide enough power for 1.5 million average homes. Mesa Power placed an order for 667 wind turbines from General Electric
— the world's largest wind turbine
order for a single location. The first phase of the project, 1000 MW, was planned to go online before 2011 before the project was halted. Lease payments for the land used by the turbines were expected to cost $65 million a year. The total cost of the project was estimated at $8–10 billion.
By way of comparison, as of May 2008, the largest U.S. wind plant was the Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center
with a capacity of 736 MW.
On March 2, 2009, Mesa announced that it was proceeding with the first phase of the project, but had put off work on the later phases, and canceled 120 of 197 wind leases.
In July 2009, Pickens delayed (but did not cancel) the project, citing the lack of transmission capacity to the site and a poor credit market. The following January, the project was cancelled completely. Declining prices for natural gas were cited as a reason for the decision. The order for the wind turbines was cut in half and the turbines were to be used in projects in Minnesota and California.
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
oilman, T. Boone Pickens, planned to build the world's largest wind farm
Wind farm
A wind farm is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electric power. A large wind farm may consist of several hundred individual wind turbines, and cover an extended area of hundreds of square miles, but the land between the turbines may be used for agricultural or other...
, called the Pampa Wind Project, as part of the Pickens Plan
Pickens Plan
The Pickens Plan is an energy policy proposal announced July 8, 2008 by American businessman T. Boone Pickens. Pickens wants to reduce American dependence on imported oil by investing approximately $US1 trillion in new wind turbine farms for power generation, which he believes would allow the...
. The proposed 4,000 MW facility was to be located near Pampa, Texas
Pampa, Texas
Pampa is a city in Gray County, Texas, United States. The population was 17,887 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Gray County.Pampa is the principal city of the Pampa Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Gray and Roberts counties....
, which is on the Texas Panhandle
Texas Panhandle
The Texas Panhandle is a region of the U.S. state of Texas consisting of the northernmost 26 counties in the state. The panhandle is a rectangular area bordered by New Mexico to the west and Oklahoma to the north and east...
, and stretch to the east, spanning 400000 acres (1,618.7 km²) in five counties. This would provide enough power for 1.5 million average homes. Mesa Power placed an order for 667 wind turbines from General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
— the world's largest wind turbine
Wind turbine
A wind turbine is a device that converts kinetic energy from the wind into mechanical energy. If the mechanical energy is used to produce electricity, the device may be called a wind generator or wind charger. If the mechanical energy is used to drive machinery, such as for grinding grain or...
order for a single location. The first phase of the project, 1000 MW, was planned to go online before 2011 before the project was halted. Lease payments for the land used by the turbines were expected to cost $65 million a year. The total cost of the project was estimated at $8–10 billion.
By way of comparison, as of May 2008, the largest U.S. wind plant was the Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center
Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center
Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center is a large wind farm with 735.5 megawatt capacity. It consists of 291 GE 1.5 MW wind turbines and 130 Siemens 2.3 MW wind turbines spread over nearly 47,000 acres of land in Taylor and Nolan County, Texas....
with a capacity of 736 MW.
On March 2, 2009, Mesa announced that it was proceeding with the first phase of the project, but had put off work on the later phases, and canceled 120 of 197 wind leases.
In July 2009, Pickens delayed (but did not cancel) the project, citing the lack of transmission capacity to the site and a poor credit market. The following January, the project was cancelled completely. Declining prices for natural gas were cited as a reason for the decision. The order for the wind turbines was cut in half and the turbines were to be used in projects in Minnesota and California.