A new wind farm has recently begun construction in the northern region of Texas, expected to be completed by July 2014. It will become the largest wind farm owned by the U.S. government. According to local TV station ABC13, this wind farm will be built east of the Pantex Plant, where the U.S. stores nuclear weapons, covering an area of 607 hectares, approximately 29 kilometers from the northern Texas city of Amarillo. The wind farm will install five 2.3 megawatt wind turbines, which will produce about 4,700 kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, addressing the needs of Pantex.
A new wind farm has recently begun construction in the northern region of Texas, expected to be completed by July 2014. It will become the largest wind farm owned by the U.S. government.
According to local TV station ABC13, this wind farm will be built east of the Pantex Plant, where the U.S. stores nuclear weapons, covering an area of 607 hectares, about 29 kilometers from the northern Texas city of Amarillo. The wind farm will install five 2.3 megawatt wind turbines, which will produce approximately 4,700 kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, meeting over 60% of Pantex's electricity needs, or enough to power nearly 3,500 homes. The project will also help reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 35,000 cubic tons each year, equivalent to taking 7,200 cars off the road.
Texas is rich in wind resources and has a fast-growing wind power sector. It is one of the states with a large installed capacity. In 2012, Texas's total installed wind power capacity was 12,200 megawatts.
As of 2012, the newly added installed capacity of wind power in the United States was 13,100 megawatts, with a cumulative installed capacity of over 60,000 megawatts. The annual electricity generation accounts for 3.5% of U.S. electricity consumption, enough to meet the electricity needs of about 15 million American households. In some states in the U.S., the proportion of wind power generation in total electricity consumption has exceeded 10%. The U.S. Department of Energy aims to increase this proportion to 20% by the end of 2030.
