Avangrid’s subsidiary Avangrid Renewables has commissioned the 307MW Karankawa wind farm, located in the US state of Texas.
Located in San Patricio and Bee counties in south Texas, the wind farm is powered by 124 of GE’s wind turbines ranging in capacity between 2.3 and 2.52 MW, with a total capacity of 307.06MW.
The wind farm sits of 18,000 acres of land, owned by 65 landowners. It is also considered to be the sixth and largest wind farm of Avangrid Renewables in Texas. The company has a wind portfolio of over 1.2GW delivering clean electricity to both commercial and utility consumers.
Avangrid Renewables President and CEO Alejandro de Hoz said: “We are excited to grow our Texas footprint and look forward to being part of the community in Bee and San Patricio counties for decades to come.
“We value the opportunity to work with Austin Energy and Nike and are proud to help our customers achieve their ambitious sustainability goals.”
Karankawa wind farm to supply clean energy to Austin Energy and Nike
The clean electricity generated from the Karankawa wind farm is supplied to Austin Energy and Nike, helping the two companies in achieving their sustainability goals.
Austin Energy has made a committment to supply 65% of its customers’ energy demand from renewable resources by 2027. Nike has also committed to source 100% of the power operating its facilities with renewable energy by 2025.
Austin Energy general manager Jackie Sargent said: “Austin Energy, with the support of the Austin City Council, is proud to continue our longstanding leadership in wind energy. Because this project is located along the coast, gulf breezes will generate more energy during the day, matching the needs of the Texas electric market and benefitting customers.”
Nike chief sustainability officer Noel Kinder said: “With the opening of the Karankawa Wind Farm we are proud to be using renewable energy to power 100% of our owned or operated facilities in our North America geography, and are tracking toward our commitment to achieve 100% globally by 2025.”
Now that the project is online, it is expected to strengthen the region’s economy with over $29m in land lease payments and $60m in taxes for the next 20 years of operations at the wind farm.
During the construction phase of the project, over 350 people were employed. Going forward, 12 full time jobs will be created, Avangrid Renewables said.
Last September, the company agreed to sell 50% of its stake in 65.1MW Dry Lake II wind farm project and the 20MW Copper Crossing solar projects in Arizona to Axium Infrastructure for a total of $112m. The two projects are under long-term output contract with Salt River Project (SRP).
