NEW YORK - TXU Energy and Cielo Wind Power said they will be build a 240-megawatt wind farm in West Texas, providing enough energy for more than 50,000 homes.
In a statement, TXU Energy, a unit of Dallas-based TXU Corp. , said it will buy all the energy produced at the Noelke Hill Wind Ranch for 15 years, with an additional five-year option. Financial terms of the deal are not being disclosed, a TXU spokesman said.
Privately held Cielo Wind Power LLC, based in Austin, Texas, will construct the plant, one of the largest wind projects in the U.S.
It is expected to be operational by September 2003.
The plant, located south of Rankin, Texas, near McCamey, brings TXU Energy's renewable power supplies to 624 MW and makes the company the third largest purchaser of wind energy in the U.S.
With the addition of the Noelke plant, TXU's renewable energy sources will supply the needs of 132,000 Texas homes.
Japan's Mitsubishi Corp. supplied the 240 wind turbines, each rated at 1 MW of capacity.
Wind energy is on track to supply at least six percent of total U.S. electricity by 2020, according to the industry group American Wind Energy Association.
TXU serves over 11 million customers worldwide, primarily in the U.S., Europe and Australia.
Cielo Wind Power develops, constructs and maintains wind power projects and is the largest wind developer in the Southwest U.S.:
