Already, Pickens ordered the initial round of wind turbines to GE which will be delivered in the first quarter of 2011. He has about 18 months in hand to settle on a location to put the wind turbines.
Pickens said that Mesa Power LP (Mesa Power) officials have in mind six locations, including places in Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas.
Still, he desires to expand to 4,000 MW, but he hasn’t placed that order yet, said Pickens.
In 2008, Pickens announced his intentions to construct a 1,000 MW wind farm in Pampa, Texas. His intention was to build his own transmission line which was a bit difficult to execute.
Pickens announced in May 2008, that his company, Mesa Power LP, would order 687 wind turbines, or 1,000 MW of capacity, from GE for about $2 billion. By 2014, he anticipated to expand the Panhandle wind farm to 4,000 MW.
Soon after announcing the plan, Natural gas and electricity price went down making it difficult to finance a new wind farm. Pickens was able to make up the finance required for the wind project but was not able to line up a transmission line.
The Public Utility Commission shaped a plan to construct $5 billion in transmission lines to bring wind power from several areas of West Texas to North Texas and the Houston area. The lines will reach as far as the Panhandle but won’t follow a path that Mesa had suggested for the Pampa project.
