A small Texas town of just over 1,000 is now the center of U.S. wind energy after the latest phase of the Roscoe Wind Complex went online Thursday, making it the world's largest operating wind farm. The complex features 627 turbines that can generate more than 780 megawatts of power, enough to power 230,000 homes, Brian McCormick reports for the Abeline News-Reporter. The plant, owned by German-owned E.ON, replaces the Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center, just over 30 miles south of Roscoe, as the largest wind farm. (Encarta map)“It has a big impact locally,” Patrick Woodson, E.ON's chief development officer for the project, told McCormick. “We have enjoyed working with the different counties in the area, and we feel that this project is the first of many for our company. We look forward to being a part of the growth of this community and others throughout Texas.” E.ON says the wind farm created 70 full-time positions, and many Roscoe residents are now moving to the industry. Judy Suggs, a Roscoe resident now working for E.ON, told McCormick: "It’s given the community more life. In the area, we have always relied on farming and ranching, and the oil business. Now landowners can make a profit by having turbines on their land." (Read more)
Texas became the country's leading state in wind production in 2006 with about 2,400 megawatts, Eileen O'Grady reports for Reuters, and now the state grid operators says its capacity has expanded to 8,335 megawatts. The Roscoe wind farm spans through parts of four counties and over 100,000 acres, several times the size of Manhattan. (Read more)
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