Cielo Wind Power Prepares to Start Construction on Brazos Wind Ranch

---

Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). Leading wind developer, Cielo Wind Power LLC the development arm of Texas Wind Power Company (Austin, Texas) is preparing to begin construction of the 160 Megawatt (MW) Brazos Wind Ranch north of Snyder, Texas. The project is a partnership between Cielo Wind Power LLC and Orion Energy LLC (Oakland, California).

Brazos Wind will consist of one hundred sixty towers located in the northern sections of Scurry County and the caprock in Borden County. Each tower will be fitted with a 1MW Mitsubishi wind turbine/generator set to supply "Green Power" to the grid. MA Mortenson (Minneapolis, Minnesota) has been selected as the prime contractor for the project. Construction is expected to begin mid July and will follow an aggressive sixth month schedule to be in operation by the end of the year in order to qualify for the Production Tax Credit (PTC).

The PTC provides a 1.5-cent per kilowatt hour (kWh) for electricity generated from wind farms built before December 31, 2003. Members of the industry and others are lobbying for an extension of the tax credit to December 31, 2006 to encourage industry growth.

Cielo Wind Power is currently one of the largest wind developers in the Southwest, with developments equaling approximately 600 megawatts of wind-generated electricity. Based in Austin, Texas, Cielo has field offices in McCamey, Texas and White Deer, Texas. The company currently has projects under development in Texas, New Mexico and Nevada.

Mortenson, founded in 1954, is a family owned full services design, engineering and construction company with experience in a wide array of industrial, commercial, government and residential projects.