Currently, Texas produces the most wind energy in the entire United States. Alone in March 2023, the state of Texas generated 12,370GWh of wind. Various wind farms are located up and down the Gulf Coast, where winds typically are stronger, thus offering the ideal location for wind farms. Thus, there are many large-scale onshore wind farms in Texas from which we chose the three largest operational onshore farms to introduce to you.
1) 912MW Los Vientos Wind Farm in Starr County
While the majority of wind farms in Texas are in the North, this project is located in Starr County in the South of Texas. Fitting to this project, the name “Los Vientos” is Spanish and means “the winds”. Construction on the farm started in 2012 and was done by Duke Energy Renewables in five phases. The wind plant, comprising 400 turbines, commenced operations in 2016.
Location: Starr County
Developer: Duke Energy Renewables
2) 782MW Roscoe Wind Farm
Located in Roscoe, Texas, the Roscoe Wind Farm is still one of the largest onshore wind farms in the world. It has a total installed capacity of around 781.5 MW and was developed in four phases. It comprises four operational wind farms named Champion, Roscoe, Pyron and Inadale. Construction started in May 2007 and was done by Germany-based E.ON Climate and Renewables. The onshore wind facility, comprising a total of 627 turbines, has been operational since 2009. Since 2019, it is owned by REWE.
Location: Roscoe
Developer: E.ON
Owner: Rewe
3) 736MW Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center in Taylor and Nolan County
Situated near Abilene, Texas, this wind farm has an installed capacity of approximately 735.5 MW. Consisting of 291 wind turbines, the wind centre was constructed in three phases by Florida-based developer FPL Energy. At the time it was commissioned in 2006, it was the largest wind farm worldwide.
Location: Taylor and Nolan County
Developer: FPL Energy
Owner: InvestEnergyGroup
Image: Anastasia Palagutina via Unsplash (08.07.2023)
