Posted on 05/15/2008 7:59:12 AM PDT by thackney
HARTFORD, Conn. — A renewable energy company founded by billionaire Boone Pickens said today it's buying 667 wind turbines from General Electric to start what it expects will be the world's largest wind energy project in the Texas Panhandle.
Mesa Power says the Pampa Wind Project will use GE turbines that can each produce 1,000 megawatts of electricity.
The project's $2 billion first phase — one of four planned — will make enough to power more than 300,000 average U.S. homes. When completed in 2014, it will become the world's largest wind energy project, with more than 4,000 megawatts of electricity, enough for 1.3 million homes, Mesa Power said.
"We have had a great response to this project," Pickens said in a statement. "We are making Pampa the wind capital of the world. It's clear that landowners and local officials understand the economic benefits that this renewable energy can bring not only to landowners who are involved with the project, but also in revitalizing an area that has struggled in recent years."
The wind farm would be five times as big as the nation's current largest wind power project, now producing 736 megawatts.
Pickens — an Oklahoma native and former wildcatter who also heads the Dallas-based hedge fund BP Capital Management LP — has been a longtime proponent for alternative fuel. He also founded a company called Clean Energy, which went public in 2007, to advocate the use of natural gas as a transportation fuel.
The deal is a major investment for Fairfield-based GE, which in January announced it would focus more efforts on building its renewable investment business because of the high price of oil. GE has called renewable energy its fastest-growing business.
The conglomerate set a goal of investing $6 billion in renewable energy by 2010, increasing its investment by 50 percent.
"T. Boone Pickens' commitment underscores the ability of wind technology to help meet the country's need for diverse sources of energy," GE chief executive Jeff Immelt said in a statement. "As America's demand for energy escalates, it is clear that wind can and will play a bigger part in meeting that need."
:-)
Not even in a hurricane, I think they blew the math here....
Details or a link please.
That's $6666.66 per house plant cost, assuming a twenty year life, that's $333.33 per year. Forgetting the beast, does anyone know how that compares to coal, nukes, etc.?
I've heard the argument that wind isn't steady enough to replace other forms, but if the wind were fairly constant, wouldn't gas-turbine generators be able to take on the load very quickly without being kept "fired" like traditional plants? Granted they would be expensive while operating, so the wind would have to be available most of the time.
None of these bright lights at AP knows the difference between a megawatt and a kilowatt. Enviromentalism like liberalism is for people who are bad at math..and science.
Surely you must be joking.
What, you doubt a nuclear plant sized single wind turbine?
3.6 WM is the biggest they make.
http://www.gepower.com/prod_serv/products/wind_turbines/en/index.htm
I thought he went to Oklahoma State ?
Yes, as a matter of fact, I was joking.
The problem is building hundreds of miles of transmission lines to get the energy to large cities.
Doesn’t Texas have an independent grid, so this power must be used within Texas, and cannot be exported to Oklahoma, New Mexico, etc?
1000 MW wind mill? We all should get one!
The five counties where Mesa Power has already leased land are Carson, Gray, Hemphill, Roberts and Wheeler counties.
Great sigh of relief!
Yep, definitely a mistake in that sentence. They meant each phase of the 4 phases of the project will produce 1,000 megawatts.
For a comparison of 4,000 megawatts here is the W.A. Parish Power Station for Houston Texas which produces about 3,600 megawatts. (4 coal plants and 4 gas plants)
W. A. Parish Electric Generating Station, Fort Bend County, Texas
Correct, Major Transmission lines are being planned from this area to bring power to Dallas and Houston mostly.
I wouldn't doubt that Mr. Pickens is negotiating a way to get this power into other states. The problem is still distance to major cities. For instance, the APPROXIMATE distance to larger cities from here is:
Denver = 400 miles
Albuquerque = 350 miles
Lubbock = 175 miles
DFW = 350-400 miles]
Oklahoma City = 250 miles
You know I hear a lot of grousing here, but take a minute to think about a few things:
1. This is a private enterprise taking on this project, not some big government ‘feel good’ program. It’s private enterprise that will solve our nation’s energy problems, not big government. Maybe this will work and maybe it won’t, but it’s a least a step in the right direction by the right kind of party. Be thankful that Pickens’ group is doing this as opposed to a Nancy Pelosi-led group.
2. Like him or hate him, Boone Pickens has made a fortune on smart energy bets. Recall that people crapped on him less than 2 years ago when he bought up oil futures in the $50-$60 range and people said he was crazy, a doomsday goofball, etc. From a pure business play alone, he now looks pretty smart. While it’s possible that FR has a few resident experts who can determine off the top of their heads the commercial viability of alternative energy products selling into the grid, I’m willing to bet that Pickens has just done a teensey bit of research on this before committing to the project.
3. People who bellyache over the need for the U.S. to become energy independent and then crap on any efforts - especially private business efforts - aimed at getting us there that don’t involve ANWR drilling (which I support, but it certainly won’t solve all of our energy needs) are suspect and problem just like to grumble for the sake of it.
Nuff said. Asbestos underwear on. Commence flaming.
3.
and people wonder why the NBC family had their people shilling during ‘green week’? MSNBC, NBC, CNBC are merely advertising arms for GE’s green energy division. Use the media to convince the public global warming is real, and use the same media to promote ‘green products’ to solve the problem, which by the way you produce. Brilliant...Next thing we know, ADM will be buying a network of their own to sell more ethanol.
No, ERCOT remains outside of Federal Commercial Regulations by not selling power across state lines. A few DC links are available for emergency support but cannot be used to sell power, only exchange it for replacement at a later date after the immediate situation is corrected.
They are made in China.
If one multiplies the number of turbines (667) by 1.5 megawatts -- you get the 1000 megawatt number.
According to the GE News Article about the China Windmills, they stand 30 feet in height (when the blade is at the highest point).
So the maximum output of 1000 megawatts would be with a steady, strong wind...
Any more news on the Alaska Natural Gas pipeline???
Its 1.5 megawatts.
But they make a 3.6 mw machine.
The only beefs I have with wind energy are.
Greens think it will replace coal. It won’t, shouldn’t and can’t.
Greens think you can drop a windmill anywhere and produce electricity unless it is visible from where they work or play. There are only a few places in the country where wind is practical.
T. Boone is probably getting a nice Fed tax credit for this venture.
We are energy independent as far as electricity goes, we have plenty of coal.
The areas where wind is practical do not have infrastructure to transmit the power and greens will not allow building of coal plants in these areas to defray the cost of transmission lines.
And finally, Mr. Boone tried to steal our basketball coach, fargen bastage.
None of these points are aimed at you, I’m just complaining.
As a private perveyour of power, it will be interesting to see if ERCOT even applies to Mr. Pickens. Perhaps they will fence him out by applying ERCOT regulations to the GRID on which he plans to distribute his power.
But it’s subsidized by the federal government with our money.
If the subsidies stop, the whole operation will become insolvent, then the government will step in and bail them out with our money.
Actually it is a private enterprise taking advantange (as any smart business will do) of a big government "feel good" program of subsidies.
Topics > Impact on Economy > Tax Breaks & Subsidies
http://www.windaction.org/documents/c47/
Well if there is one place they will build wind farms that will actually make money it is the plain states. My old neck of the woods in Kansas has the highest average daily wind speed, at 13 mph, almost three times the minimum requirement to keep your average wind mill turning, which is why lots of turbines are being planned on built in that area. The problem is there is alot of top end speed going in that area which, even though the turbines will shut down at too high of a speed, they can still prematurely wear out.
In the case of California, it is ludicrious, as the last time I went to Ventura beach, tar balls would have to be cleaned off my feet.
The oil naturally seeps through the faults in the area, and spills on the beach in tar balls -- it would be better to drill the oil and relieve the pressure.
Enough said... When is the Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline going to be built...
I’ve played golf all my life in windy areas. But the Texas panhandle was a new level of craziness. I have a golf buddy who grew up in western Kansas, and he and I swap stories about windy golf from our days on the plains.
He will be subject to ERCOT if he builds within their boundaries.
In August of 2007, Mesa Power filed documents with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) to add the 4,000 MW of wind-generated electricity to the power grid in Texas.
Mesa Power buys 1,000 MW of wind turbines
http://pepei.pennnet.com/display_article/328811/6/ARTCL/none/none/1/Mesa-Power-buys-1,000-MW-of-wind-turbines/
...and stop calling him Shirley.
Careful, there are people here who will accuse you of being Al Gore's butt buddy for saying things like that!
Same news as always, politics and posturing rather than engineering and construction.
I am an engineer; those look beautiful to me.
I checked the GE website and they claim units ranging from 1.5 - 3.6 MW. I am not sure what the energy is on calm days.
My beef with wind power is the foot print they require. I live close enough to a major wind farm to think those things are the biggest man made eyesore I’ve ever seen.
Well, one other beef is the tax credits such things get. I’d like to see conventional power plants get the same tax advantages.
Your chart brings up an interesting point. Electricity is transmitted at high voltage a long distances at very efficient energy transfer rate. Can windmills produces the high voltage to transmit long distances or is it a “local” dump that is really much less electricity than the rating suggests?
YUP hypocrisy at its finest. People who live on the coast don’t have to put up with offshore oil rig “eye-sores”, but rural Americans sure do.
“So what do they do but put these da*n things all across the top of them.”
I took my family for a Sunday drive on a ridgeline road I’ve visited since childhood. Nothing but turbines looking up on the way up, looking out at the halfway point, and looking down from the top. Almost every ridge around here is the same. The only one that isn’t has a native Indian claim on it. Good for them.
Nearly all major power plants regardless of the type step up the voltage after generation to reach transmission line voltages. It is difficult to build a generator with the electrical insulation and corona requirements of transmission level voltages.
Perhaps you're missing the point - alternative & renewable energy projects, such as solar, wind, bio-fuels, etc have nothing to do with energy production. They are merely liberal versions of corporate welfare.
In that sense, they are a great success: employment increases in both bureaucratic regulatory and tax compliance sectors, along with subsidized construction/agri-biz activities. What's not to like if you're one of the lucky insiders looking at a nice long stable career with fully vested pension benefits?
Props can be beautiful at the front of a plane and the rear of a ship and the high-aspect ratio airfoils of a sailplane are quite elegant.
To me, the cooling tower on our nuke plant is more beautiful and it doesn't detract from the surrounding scenery. We have no engineers, only Yale physicists in the family.
Then, the rotor diameter is around 70m (227ft).
So the highest point could be up to 440ft high.
Here are the specs.
GE Rotor Specs
Hey, I worked at that power plant for four summers as I attended A&M in the 80’s. I worked initial start up on Unit 8 my last summer. Cool to see the place again. Did you work there?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.