Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens has placed an the largest ever order for wind turbines: he ordered 667 wind turbines from GE, each costing $3 million dollars, making the total order $2 billion. Pickens plans to develop the world’s largest wind farm in the panhandle of Texas.
The $2 billion order is just one quarter of the total amount he plans to purchase. Once built, the wind farm would have the capacity to supply power to over 1,200,000 homes in North Texas. Each turbine will produce 1.5 megawatts of electricity. The first phase of the project will produce 1,000 megawatts, enough energy to power 300,000 homes. GE will begin delivering the turbines in 2010, and current plans call for the project to start producing power in 2011.Ultimately, Picken’s company, Mesa Power, plans to have enough turbines to produce 4,000 megawatts of energy, the overall project is expected to cost $10 billion and be completed in 2014.
Mesa Power has leased sparsely populated land in the Texas panhandle, where the wind often blows during daylight hours when energy needs are highest. Texas’ Competitive Renewable Energy Zones (CREZ) transmission lines will deliver what Pickens hopes will be “cost effective and reliable electricity generated by renewable energy power projects.”
26 responses so far ↓
1 Will // May 16, 2008 at 4:23 am
I am surprised that they are using 1.5MW plants. I thought that larger turbines = less capital and maintenance costs per MW, and there are now 5,6, even 7MW plants available. Perhaps the problem is simply supply?
2 Room // May 16, 2008 at 5:23 am
Well there is room to grow
How is it now for 30 years we knew that oil was in limited supply , that opec was an organization that not only abusive but even hated us
Yet successive administrations did nothing
The execs of american car companies marketed big old trucks loaded with options as “SUVs” and nothing has happened until now ?
3 tekn0lust // May 19, 2008 at 8:38 am
Watch a similar one of these being built.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNZqNL4qZxY
4 mark p.s. // May 19, 2008 at 8:43 am
I think a 6 megawatt turbine instead of the 1.5 would make it more expensive than “$3 million dollars” . Also there may not be enough wind for the 6.
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/04/worlds_largest_6.php
5 blowhard // May 19, 2008 at 8:46 am
timing is right.. public is more concerned with paying for gas than environmental concerns and NIMBY issues. Big tax incentives for investors offer immediate returns (at taxpayer expense), gas has energy costs so high that people will now pay for what was previously more expensive forms of power.
Timing is everything…. there were big wind projects in Kalifornia back in the 70’s to.. investors seldom made their money back.
6 Pat Logos // May 19, 2008 at 8:59 am
aaah capitalism…ownership of earth and water…and oh yes…wind…
because some rich greedy bastard should be allowed to gouge for breeze spun energy as long as he has the money to harness it…
or should he? could we perhaps make our own windmills?
Check this guy out…very clever…
http://www.pangeaday.org/filmDetail.php?id=47
7 Andrew // May 19, 2008 at 9:50 am
4000MW/667 = 6MW per turbine
4000MW = 4000000KW
4000000KW x 24 hours x 365 days x 80% capacity = 28032000000KWh sellable energy per year.
28032000000KWh x 0.05/kWh =
$1,401,600,000.00 revenue per year
Sounds like a good investment.
8 daniel giancola // May 19, 2008 at 10:02 am
I can’t tell you how happy I am to see this effort Mr. Pickens. We need this, and we need it yesterday. I know that Richard Branson is stepping up to the plate and enacting change. Government is to slow to change, and we need it now. Hopefully if you can get your buddies on board, we can continue to move this direction. I spoke directly with an engineer from Applied materials, and he told me that if you put out a 400 X 400 square mile solar array, maybe next to the ones that exist east of california, it could supply all of our energy needs, and be done for less of a cost than the current war with Iraq. We can be completely fossil free today. It’s just the money. Only money that holds us back.
9 Manny // May 19, 2008 at 10:04 am
Pat, no one is stopping you from building your own windmill and using the electricity for your own needs or (perish the thought) selling it to your neighbors and then using those profits to build yourself a second one. and so on…
10 bewhyareohin // May 19, 2008 at 10:07 am
God knows the wind blows through the Amarillo area, Mr. T (as I like to call him) is on to something!
11 maths pro // May 19, 2008 at 10:35 am
To #7,
It should be 4000MW/(4 x 667) = 1.5MW per turbine
12 JT // May 19, 2008 at 10:55 am
Pat, maybe you can start your own communist windmill project. But don’t pay any of the workers to help you.
13 John // May 19, 2008 at 11:15 am
So would anything make pat logos happy? Perhaps if magic vegan fairies crapped energy out and gave it away free starting with the poorest of the poor and then working his way up.
God forbid someone actually use sustainable energy! Oh and it costs money oh noes!
14 Mr. Sustainable // May 19, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Wonderful news reported with wonderful photographs! It’s very refreshing to read that wise, successful members of the business community are coming to realize that there are greenbacks to be made in green commerce.
15 Eric // May 19, 2008 at 12:16 pm
The profit motive will be the driving force that moves us off of oil. As alternative energy sources become more efficient and less expensive, profit driven people will invest in them and eventually their investments will reduce the cost of these technologies down enough that the average Joe can afford it.
Pat, capitalism will save us. Capitalism makes these technologies cheaper. Capitalism creates the incentive for this guy to do what he is doing.
16 Jason Benne // May 19, 2008 at 12:50 pm
@Andrew
Just looked at my electricity bill and im being charged at .01 per KWH (Located in Tulsa, OK) For anyone to buy power from him he will need to stay around that number, putting your numbers closer to 20% of what they are.
17 Doug // May 19, 2008 at 1:22 pm
@Jason Benne
And then there’s my utility bill, where my marginal cost of electicity is about US$0.36. Yay, California.
18 Jason // May 19, 2008 at 1:38 pm
@Jason Benne
You may be misreading your bill… it’s probably closer to 10 cents/KWH:
http://www.eia.doe.gov/bookshelf/brochures/rep/images/new_us_map.png
19 Rene // May 19, 2008 at 1:48 pm
City Hall will keep the vast number of americans from generating their own power. There are few, if any, municipalities that will allow you to set up a windmill. It’s not just money that’s needed. We need an entire generation of savvy people to take over the positions of power and force the petroleum-types out.
20 J // May 19, 2008 at 2:03 pm
I watched some of the propellers being transported on highway 75. They were freaking huge.
21 Jeremy Goode // May 19, 2008 at 4:42 pm
I guess T Boone thinks this might make up for selling off the panhandles water supply, are we just supposed to forget. unbelievable…
22 James Latta // May 19, 2008 at 10:46 pm
$3 million for each 1.5 megaW turbine.
1.5 megaW x 1,000 = 1,500 kW
1,500 kW x 365 days/year x 24 hours/day x 20% capacity factor = 2,628,000 kWhr per year
$3 million x 7.5% interest = $225,000/year
$3 million / 20 year straight-line depreciation = $150,000/year
Interest + depreciation = $375,000/year
$375,000/year / 2,628,000 kWhr per year = 14.27 cents per kWhr
Average cost for electricity from all US nuclear power plants in 2005 = 1.95 cents/kWhr
This wind power cost does not include land acquisition cost, erection cost, cost of building power lines, operating cost, maintenance cost, insurance, SG&A expenses, and profit.
I wonder what’s going on here? Government subsidies? T.Boone is getting pretty old, has more money than he can spend and maybe just wants to leave a legacy? Or just wants to have some fun? Always admired him. He’s a doer
23 ryan // May 20, 2008 at 7:11 am
@James Latta…your math is way off I think.
“1.5 megaW x 1,000 = 1,500 kW”
actually a mega watt is 1,000 kilowatts, or 1 million watts (hence “mega”)
as I see it, if this person can actually supply consistent power to 1.2 million people at an average of 150 per month each person, that will get him his principle investment back in 1 year. Say it even takes 5 years. If the turbines last 10 years, he doubles his money.
Now before you run off and spend 10,000 on a small windmill in your yard, as I understand it the profit margins sink tremendously if you spend under 1-3 million per windmill.
You can make more money if you hook a small bank of windmills up to a small bank of servers, then sell the server space as “green” and charge a premium for it.
24 Paolo // May 22, 2008 at 3:25 am
E’ la prima volta che vedo una foto da “dentro” di una pala eolica. L’oggetto blu che si vede steso,viene costruito in Italia, di solito,dove lavoro, è un riduttore di giri. Solo per montarlo,richiede due buone giornate di lavoro,ad un paio di persone. Sorry for my script, but i know english a bit bit.This article is very interesting. P.s. Add : the price of gas in Italy is 0,95 dollar for litre. Long life to all.
25 PUTTPUTT // May 23, 2008 at 12:05 pm
TEXAN SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO USE ELECTRICITY AS PUNISHMENT FOR BUSH.
26 Hybrid Cars // Jun 21, 2008 at 3:51 am
Yeah i agree, we have all these wind, solar and hydro power but we are still lagging in the development of a better storage medium to store those unused energy for future use.
Alternative Fuels;
Hybrid SUV
Leave a Comment