The Buffalo Gap Wind Farm is located in Nolan and Taylor Counties, about south west of
Abilene, Texas. It was constructed in three phases and has a total wind generation capacity of 523.3
megawatts
The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wat ...
(MW).
Facility details
Buffalo Gap 1 consists of 67
Vestas
Vestas Wind Systems A/S is a Danish manufacturer, seller, installer, and servicer of wind turbines that was founded in 1945. The company operates manufacturing plants in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Taiwan, India, Italy, Romania, the Un ...
V-80
wind turbine
A wind turbine is a device that converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. Hundreds of thousands of large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, now generate over 650 gigawatts of power, with 60 GW added each yea ...
s, each rated at 1.8 MW, for a total capacity of 120.6 MW. The
wind farm
A wind farm or wind park, also called a wind power station or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundred wind turb ...
was developed by SeaWest WindPower and is currently owned by AES Wind Generation. The power is sold t
Direct Energy Texasunder a 15-year
power purchase agreement
A power purchase agreement (PPA), or electricity power agreement, is a contract between two parties, one which generates electricity (the seller) and one which is looking to purchase electricity (the buyer). The PPA defines all of the commercial te ...
.
[Direct Energy to Buy 233 MW from AES' Wind Project in Texas](_blank)
''Renewable Energy Access'', 1 September 2006.
Buffalo Gap 2 is a 232.5 MW expansion consisting of 155
GE SLE 1.5 MW wind turbines. The facility was developed by AES Wind Generation and went into commercial operation in June 2007. The power is sold to Direct Energy under a 10-year power purchase agreement.
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Buffalo Gap 3 is a 170.2 MW addition, completed in September 2008, consisting of 74 Siemens 2.3 MW wind turbines.[
]
Electricity production
See also
*Wind power
Wind power or wind energy is mostly the use of wind turbines to generate electricity. Wind power is a popular, sustainable, renewable energy source that has a much smaller impact on the environment than burning fossil fuels. Historically ...
*List of onshore wind farms
This is a list of the largest onshore wind farms that are currently operational, rated by generating capacity. Also listed are onshore wind farms with notability other than size, and largest proposed projects.
Largest operational onshore wind ...
References
{{Wind power in the United States
Energy infrastructure completed in 2007
Energy infrastructure completed in 2008
Buildings and structures in Nolan County, Texas
Buildings and structures in Taylor County, Texas
Wind farms in Texas