Iberdrola Renovables has started up the Peñascal wind farm in the state of Texas. This is the largest facility operated by the company worldwide with an installed capacity of 404 MW. The Peñascal complex is located in Kenedy County (Texas) and comprises two wind farms: Peñascal I and Peñascal II. The facility has 168 Mitsubishi MHI 92 wind turbines, with unit capacity of 2.4 MW. Its output meets the energy needs of around 150,000 average families and prevents the emission of some 120,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide.
According to the company, “the facility provides a significant socio-economic boost to the region as it has created some 20 direct jobs in the maintenance and operation of the wind farms”. Around 200 people were involved in its construction.
Moreover, the facility was built in line with Iberdrola Renovables’ stringent environmental criteria and the company spent over 4000 hours researching the characteristics and habits of the bird life in the region prior to its construction.
The complex’s innovative features include a radar that detects the arrival of large flocks of migratory birds and shuts down the turbines if visibility conditions present a danger.
Iberdrola Renovables has become the second largest wind power operator in the US, where it is present in 23 states. At the end of the first quarter the company had 39 wind farms in the country with installed capacity of 3,827 MW. The US also currently accounts for 41% of the company’s project pipeline.
The company has a workforce of 800 employees in the US – almost half the total – and has created over 14,200 indirect jobs since 2006. It has also made around $6,600 million in purchases from US companies over the last three years.
Iberdrola Renovables plans to install 1,000 MW per year in the US in 2011 and 2012, a target that requires dynamic management of its project pipeline. The objective is to shore up its presence in the country’s eastern and north-eastern states, which have the most attractive potential due to the positive outlook for prices and demand.
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