Based on state legislation, Texas’s official wind energy capital is McCamey City, Texas.
The Texas legislature passed the legislation on February 22, 2001, in response to the first commercial wind farm in McCamey City – the 75 MW Southwest Mesa Wind Energy Project. Commissioned in 1999, Southwest Mesa Wind’s 75 MW of capacity was a rarity.
This was only the beginning of wind power in Texas. Wind power generation was yet to receive full community or government support. Later on, the wind energy capacity of the state of Texas will grow exponentially in different counties.
In 2022 in terms of the sheer number of turbines, different Texas counties may well be considered the Wind Energy Capital of Texas. But McCamey City highlighted the potential of Texas wind to be the economic force it is today.
Where is the Wind Energy Capital of Texas?
The official ‘Wind Energy Capital of Texas’ is McCamey City, Upton County, Texas. McCamey city is sparsely populated, with 2,060 residents as of December 2019. According to USGS, Upton county has 580 MW in installed capacity of wind turbines.
McCamey, Texas, is only 5 square kilometers big. Still, it did start the wind revolution in its home county–Upton–and in Texas in 1999. Perhaps, in 1999, reaching out to the highest possible capacity of wind farms, the genesis of the wind industry became conceivable with Southwest Mesa Wind Energy Project in McCamey.
Historically, the data backs 1999 as a critical year for wind farms in the US. According to the Energy Information Administration, 1999 was when the upward trend of wind in US electricity generation moved from a flatline to a constantly rising number. The share of wind in electricity generated has not reached a plateau.
Where is Upton County, Texas?
Upton County is in the Edwards Plateau in Texas, with a population of 3,308.
Upton County is 3,210 square kilometers wide. As per the USGS database, the county has three wind farms that are currently operational.
Who are the largest wind farm operators in Texas?
Three large companies considered leaders in the renewable energy space operate the top 5 wind farms in Texas.
Duke Energy Renewables operates the largest wind farm in Texas–the 912 MW Los Vientos Wind farm. Los Vientos is the second largest in the US, behind Alta Wind Energy Center of California in the US.
Duke Energy Renewables also operate the Sweetwater Wind Farm in Nolan County, three other Texas wind farms, and a San Antonio solar farm. The company serves about 7.9 million customers with its diversified solar, wind, coal, and nuclear portfolio in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Florida, and North and South Carolina. Its market cap is $82 billion.
RWE owns and operates the Roscoe Wind farm, a 785-MW wind farm providing enough energy for 250,000 homes. RWE is a German multinational company listed as a blue chip on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in Germany.
NextEra Energy Resources (NEER) owns and operates the fourth and fifth largest wind farms in Texas–Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center and Capricorn Ridge Wind Farm. NextEra Energy Resources is one of the world’s largest operators of solar and wind power plants. Its parent company, Next Era Energy, Inc., is a Fortune 200 company.
The state of Texas also continues to work in tandem with government and private sector groups to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
In 2020 alone, Texas installed 4.1 GW in onshore wind farms, which is 24.5% of all wind capacity installed in the US in 2020.
Where are the largest wind farms in Texas?
Many of the wind farms in Texas follow the natural wind belt, which goes through West Texas, the Texas Panhandle, Texas Hill Country, and Southern Texas Plains.
It is also notable that developers installed many of the largest wind farms in Texas in different phases. Some examples are the Los Vientos Wind Farm, Roscoe Wind Farm, and Sweetwater Wind Farm.
These multi-phase projects show the success of the CREZ (Competitive Energy Renewable Zone), which is the artery of renewable energy transmission in the state of Texas. Installed by the state government to deliver wind power throughout Texas, CREZ transmission lines connect the CREZ areas to highly populated cities. These lines encourage developers to build large wind farms and expand them throughout the years.
In the map, the large wind farms are mainly in the CREZ zones–Panhandle A, Panhandle B, Central, McCamey, and Central West.
Many of the largest wind farms in Texas, installed in many parts, have more than 500 MW of capacity. Each of the phases or parts of these projects is less than 500 MW each, but together they yield higher output.
There are also less popular but large single-phase projects greater than 500 MW. Aviator Wind Farm is a 525 MW farm in Coke County that started operating in 2020.
Another is White Mesa in Crockett County, with a 507 MW capacity. Texas might soon need to expand its transmission capacity as more wind farms go online.
What is the natural wind belt?
The wind belt is the wind-rich area of the US in the Midwest. It has high-speed winds blowing from North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas towards Oklahoma and Texas in the South.
The parts of Texas in the wind belt were an easy choice for government investment and transmission lines. These wind-rich areas, many of which were developed as CREZs, deliver wind energy to larger cities.
According to estimates by AWS and validated by NREL, 80 meters above the ground, wind speeds average between 7 to 8.5 meters per second. West Texas and the Texas Panhandle mostly get the wind’s strength, but the rest of Texas is also highlighted in orange.
What are the brands of wind turbines commonly used in Texas?
Five brands dominate the turbine supply of wind farm projects and technology in Texas. The wind turbines of these five brands are 89% of all installed capacity in Texas.
In 2022, 36.8 GW of installed capacity harnesses power from the winds of Texas. These five brands carry 32.7 GW out of the 36.8 GW to the electricity grid.
- GE Wind – 16.4 GW
- Vestas – 7.3 GW
- Siemens (including Siemens Gamesa) – 4.8 GW
- Nordex – 2.3 GW
- Mitsubishi – 1.8 GW
GE Wind, a homegrown American brand, is used for 44% of all installed capacity in operating projects in Texas. GE Wind also has a strong presence in Texas, making it economically beneficial for the state to procure turbines from the company.
Furthermore, using a homegrown country brand is profitable, increases project efficiency, and lowers costs. Domestic manufacturing helps meet the growing demand for larger wind farm construction projects through domestic content.
Vestas is a Danish company with a factory in Colorado. Denmark is one of the most prosperous countries in the wind industry, producing enough power from wind turbines to electrify nearly half of the country.
Siemens is a Spanish-German company, Nordex is German, and Mitsubishi is a Japanese company headquartered in Tokyo.
Siemens has a strong American presence and, as of 2017, had invested $40 billion in the USA. Mitsubishi is expanding in the country as well.
Where are the most wind turbines in Texas?
According to USGS, the following ten counties lead Texas regarding the number of turbines in 2022.
- Nolan County – 1,410 turbines
- Scurry County – 649 turbines
- Carson County – 620 turbines
- Willacy County – 603 turbines
- Sterling County – 600 turbines
- Pecos County – 565 turbines
- Borden County – 462 turbines
- Kenedy County – 454 turbines
- Webb County – 450 turbines
- Floyd County – 441 turbines
Nolan county has the most wind turbines, which covers nearly 8% of the 17,779 turbines in the state.
Which county has the most wind farms in Texas?
Nolan County has the most number of wind farms, where 21 wind farms currently operate within its borders.
These 21 wind farms include the five phases of Sweetwater Wind Farm, 3 phases of Roscoe Wind Farm, Buffalo Gap, and two phases of Horse Hollow Wind Farm.
Local communities benefit from these wind farms by receiving royalty payments from the wind farm operators on an annual basis.
Which Texas counties have the most wind energy capacity?
Wind resources are now the leading source of renewable energy for Texas. The 36-GW strong wind industry of the state is made formidable by eight counties with at least 1 GW in installed capacity.
USGS shows that Nolan County is the only county so far to reach 2 GW capacity.
- Nolan County – 2.2 GW
- Willacy County – 1.3 GW
- Scurry County – 1.2 GW
- Kenedy County – 1.08 GW
- Carson County – 1.07 GW
- Starr County – 1.06 GW
- Floyd County – 1.02 GW
- Crockett County – 1.00 GW
- Sterling County – 0.99 GW
- Oldham County – 0.88 GW
What is the largest wind farm in Texas?
The Los Vientos Wind Farm in Willacy and Starr County is the largest in Texas.