Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center Now Largest Wind Farm In The World

September 8, 2006 - Clean Edge News

FPL Energy, LLC, a subsidiary of FPL Group, announced that as of the end of August it had completed 662 megawatts of the Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center in Texas, making it the largest wind farm in the world. When the last phase of the project is complete later this month, the Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center will have a total capacity of 735 megawatts.

The Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center is comprised of 291 GE 1.5 megawatt wind turbines and 130 Siemens 2.3 megawatt wind turbines spread over nearly 47,000 acres in Taylor and Nolan County, Texas. The first phase of the project consisting of 213 megawatts was completed in late 2005; phase two consisting of 223.5 megawatts was completed in the second quarter of 2006; and, phase three consisting of 299 megawatts, of which 225 megawatts are already operational, is expected to be completed by the end of September. Once Horse Hollow is complete, FPL Energy will operate more than 1,600 megawatts of wind in Texas alone.

"The Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center is an important new source of clean, renewable power for the region that also provides significant economic benefits to the area in the form of taxes, new jobs, lease payments to landowners and the purchase of local goods and services," said Jim Robo, president of FPL Energy. "Projects like Horse Hollow are possible because of the pro-business environment that exists in Texas today as well as tremendous support from the local community. Because of the strong support we have received in Texas, this year alone we have invested more than $1 billion to expand our wind business in the state and bring the benefits of this clean, renewable energy source to tens of thousands of Texans."

FPL Energy, through its subsidiaries, currently operates 47 wind farms throughout the U.S. with a gross capacity of 4,002 megawatts - enough capacity to provide electricity for nearly one million average U.S. homes. FPL Energy is currently the largest owner and operator of wind turbines in the world. FPL Energy subsidiaries own 3,793 of the 4,002 megawatts it currently operates. Since July 2005 FPL Energy has added approximately 880 megawatts of new wind and has more than 220 megawatts under construction and expected to reach commercial operation by the end of the year. With a strong pipeline of wind projects and corresponding equipment contracts in place, FPL Energy expects to add at least 1,500 megawatts to its portfolio, excluding acquisitions, over the course of the 2006/2007 period.

During the first half of 2006, FPL Energy's development activities helped Texas supplant historic leader California as the top state in cumulative wind power capacity, according to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA). According to AWEA, at the end of the second quarter of 2006 Texas' cumulative total stood at 2,370 megawatts of capacity followed by California's 2,323 megawatts. All of the megawatts added in Texas during the first half of the year were from FPL Energy projects.