Roscoe Wind Farm

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Roscoe Wind Farm
Roscoe Wind Farm in West Texas.jpg
Roscoe Wind Farm at sunrise
Roscoe Wind Farm
CountryUnited States
Location Texas
Coordinates 32°15′52″N100°20′39″W / 32.26444°N 100.34417°W / 32.26444; -100.34417 Coordinates: 32°15′52″N100°20′39″W / 32.26444°N 100.34417°W / 32.26444; -100.34417
StatusOperational
Commission date 2009
Construction cost>US$1 billion
Owner(s)
Wind farm
Type Onshore
Rated wind speed17 mph (27 km/h)
Power generation
Units operational627
Nameplate capacity 781.5 MW
Capacity factor 31.7% (average 2011-2017)
Annual net output 2,174  GW⋅h (7,830  TJ)

The Roscoe Wind Farm near Roscoe, Texas is one of the world's largest-capacity wind farms. With 627 wind turbines and a total installed capacity of 781.5 MW, owned and operated by RWE. [1] [2] At the time of its completion in 2009, it was the largest wind farm in the world, surpassing the nearby 735.5-megawatt Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center. [3] In 2012, it was overtaken by California's 1,020-megawatt Alta Wind Energy Center.

Contents

Facility details

Roscoe was constructed in four phases. The first phase, Roscoe, was constructed in 2008 and consists of 209 Mitsubishi 1-megawatt turbines. Phase two is called Champion was also completed in 2008 and includes 55 Siemens 2.3-megawatt machines. The third phase is called Pyron. Its 166 GE 1.5-megawatt turbines were commissioned in mid-2009 shortly before the fourth phase, Inadale, was completed. Inadale adds 197 more Mitsubishi 1-megawatt turbines to the existing project.

The project cost more than $1 billion and provides enough power for more than 250,000 average Texan homes. It is located about 200 mi (320 km) west of Fort Worth, spanning parts of four Texas counties and covering nearly 100,000 acres (40,000 ha), several times the size of Manhattan. [3] [4] [5] [6]

Cliff Etheredge, a local cotton farmer, helped to organize the project. [7] In addition to its large size, the farm is also notable for the large number of individual land owners (as many as 400) who share in royalties from the project. [7] Wind farms are helping to revive the local economy in remote areas of West Texas and the Texas Panhandle. [3]

The Roscoe Wind Farm and Cliff Etheredge are featured in the 2010 documentary film, Carbon Nation .

Electricity production

Roscoe Wind Farm Generation (MW·h)
YearRoscoe
209 MW Unit [8]
Champion
126.5 MW Unit [9]
Pyron
249 MW Unit [10]
Inadale
197 MW Unit [11]
Total Annual
MW·h
2008523,383277,725--801,108
2009488,402317,097506,951-1,312,450
2010532,548349,945559,509384,4811,826,483
2011615,420416,677603,565380,4432,016,105
2012596,742413,620716,988476,4722,203,822
2013561,408393,195775,605549,3002,279,508
2014591,896406,486811,344592,6872,402,413
2015440,211349,128706,057495,0051,990,401
2016562,424308,250772,988539,1772,182,839
2017554,037366,144712,817506,8792,139,877
Average Annual Production (20112017)2,173,566

See also

Related Research Articles

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References

  1. Weise, Elizabeth; Jervis, Rick (October 18, 2019). "Turbines to the max: Texas produces more wind energy than nearly anywhere else in the world". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2019-10-19.
  2. "The Roscoe Wind Farm Project, Texas, USA". www.power-technology.com. Retrieved 2020-10-21.
  3. 1 2 3 O'Grady, Eileen. E.ON completes world's largest wind farm in Texas Archived 2011-01-23 at the Wayback Machine Reuters, October 1, 2009.
  4. EC&R Completes 780-MW Roscoe Wind Farm Archived 2012-05-16 at the Wayback Machine Renewable Energy World, 2 October 2009.
  5. E.ON Delivers 335-MW of Wind in Texas Archived 2016-01-05 at the Wayback Machine Renewable Energy World, 23 September 2008.
  6. American Wind Energy Association. U.S. Wind Energy Industry Installs over 2,800 MW in First Quarter Archived 2009-08-11 at the Wayback Machine
  7. 1 2 John Burnett. Winds of Change Blow into Roscoe, Texas Archived 2019-01-15 at the Wayback Machine NPR, November 27, 2007.
  8. "Roscoe, Annual". Electricity Data Browser. Energy Information Administration. Archived from the original on March 23, 2018. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
  9. "Champion, Annual". Electricity Data Browser. Energy Information Administration. Archived from the original on March 23, 2018. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
  10. "Pyron, Annual". Electricity Data Browser. Energy Information Administration. Archived from the original on March 23, 2018. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
  11. "Inadale, Annual". Electricity Data Browser. Energy Information Administration. Archived from the original on March 23, 2018. Retrieved March 22, 2019.