Winds of Change: Turbines to Produce Enough
Electricity for 80,000 Homes
Jan 08 - Valley Morning Star (Harlingen, Texas)
They aren't visible from the nearest highway, but starting at about 11 miles
from the road, more than 100 turbines now dot 8,000 acres of Kenedy Ranch.
The turbines, each taller than the Statue of Liberty from base to tip, were
motionless Wednesday afternoon, but soon the massive, gleaming blades will
be spinning and generating enough electricity to power 80,000 homes,
officials said at a ribbon cutting Wednesday.
"We realized there is a great natural resource here," said John Calaway,
chief development officer for Australia-based Babcock & Brown, which
developed the Gulf Wind project nestled at Kenedy Ranch. "We're delighted
that the whole project has come together like this."
The developers, with state and county officials, acknowledged that they
faced opposition from some environmental groups and King Ranch to bring the
wind farm to fruition.
The groups, who formed the Coastal Habitat Alliance, filed a federal lawsuit
last year seeking to halt the wind farms' construction, as well as filing
protests with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the
Federal Aviation Administration. The lawsuit was
dismissed, and the federal agencies haven't responded to the alliance's
complaints.
The alliance has asserted that the wind-energy projects are in a major
migratory pathway for birds, and therefore the large, spinning turbines
could lead to major bird kills.
Concerns that the wind farms could harm birds are unfounded, Babcock & Brown
representatives said Wednesday.
"It's something we've carefully studied, and we designed the project to
mitigate any (environmental) impacts," Chris Shugart, project developer,
said.
The company spent three years conducting environmental assessments, tracking
bird migration and monitoring endangered species in the area, Calaway said.
To address concerns about risks to birds, the company is using a precision
radar system to track bird movement, and will shut down turbines during
high-risk times, officials said. Few other wind farms use this type of
technology, they said.
"It's going to set the example for environmental stewardship," Calaway said.
State and local officials said they were surprised by the alliance's
persistence to stop the project, despite the wind developers' promises to
monitor bird migration and minimize impact to wetlands.
"I was sued last year ... they said I deliberately violated the Coastal Zone
Management Act," Texas General Land Office Commissioner Jerry Patterson said
at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Patterson was one of the defendants in the
alliance's lawsuit. "That's calling me out as a liar, and I don't cotton to
that."
Babcock & Brown is planning to build more turbines, adding an additional 200
megawatts of power to the existing 283 megawatts' worth of turbines already
in place, officials said.
Combined with the other wind farm, owned by Portland, Ore.-based Iberdrola
Renewables, Kenedy Ranch's wind project will eventually be the largest in
the world, Calaway said.
-----
To see more of the Valley Morning Star, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go
to http://www.valleystar.com.
Copyright (c) 2009, Valley Morning Star, Harlingen, Texas
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
Copyright © 2008The
McClatchy Company |