Windfarm would use turbines to store compressed air
DALLAS, Texas, USA, August 1, 2007. A proposed 3,000 MW windfarm in Texas would almost double the state’s installed capacity of turbines.
Royal Dutch Shell and TXU want to develop the facility in Briscoe County, southeast of Amarillo in the Texas Panhandle. The American Wind Energy Association says Texas currently has 3,352 MW of turbines and is ranked top in the U.S., ahead of California.
The Panhandle project would be built in phases, with 1,000 turbines when completed, explains TXU. No cost of the project was released by Shell WindEnergy and Luminant, a subsidiary of TXU.
An agreement commits both companies to work collaboratively on other renewable energy projects in Texas, including research on whether compressed air can be stored and used to drive turbines at times of low winds or peak demand. CAS uses excess power to pump air underground for later use in generating electricity, and the technology will improve reliability and grid usage and becomes more economical with large-scale projects, such as proposed for Briscoe County.
“Shell is constantly looking for solutions to deal with climate change and increasing our energy diversity,” says John Hofmeister of Shell Oil. “Wind is part of the answer; our approach is a cost-effective solution for consumers.”
“Luminant is committed to providing Texans with clean sources of energy and this agreement with Shell is a real next step in delivering on that commitment,” adds Mike Childers of Luminant Development. “Luminant is already the state leader in wind energy purchases, and co-developing this project would take us a long way toward our goal of doubling our portfolio.”
Recent testimony by Shell before the Public Utility Commission of Texas demonstrated that the Briscoe County windfarm could deliver the lowest-cost wind energy for consumers due to excellent wind resources and a comparatively lower cost to bring the power to market from the Texas Panhandle region. TXU does not hold direct ownership in any windfarm, although the Dallas utility is the state's largest purchaser of wind power and the fifth-largest purchaser in the United States.
The facility would rank as the world's largest single wind installation and is close to the wind capacity recently announced by Texas investor Boone Pickens. Mesa Power is seeking to install 2,000 to 4,000 MW of wind capacity in four Panhandle counties.
Luminant is a subsidiary of TXU, with 18,300 MW of generation in Texas including 2,300 MW of nuclear and 5,800 MW of coal-fired capacity.
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