Texas Leads the Nation in Wind-Powered Projects under Construction

---

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--There are 20 wind power projects presently under construction in the U.S. with a combined net worth of more than $5.5 billion. Texas is leading the country in the number of projects with six as well as in the total investment value (TIV), with more than $2.6 billion in expected spend. All told, nationwide wind projects under construction are expected to have a total generation capacity of more than 3,000 megawatts (MW).

Click on the image at right for a graph detailing the number of wind projects and anticipated TIV by state.

Wind and Projects Bigger in Texas

Texas is ranked first among states in terms of installed wind generation capacity with more than 14,000 MW. This is more than double the installed capacity of second ranked California (6,000 MW). The wind projects now under construction will further solidify that ranking. The most expensive and highest capacity wind project under construction in the country is the Los Vientos Rio Bravo Windfarm in Lyford Texas. The $740 million, 400 MW project is being developed by Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) (Charlotte, North Carolina), which has engaged Pike Electric (Portland, Oregon) as the project engineer and Wanzek Construction Incorporated (West Fargo, North Dakota), a subsidiary of Mastec Incorporated (NYSE:MTZ) (Coral Gables, Florida), as constructor. The project will use 200 Vestas V110-2.0 Model Wind Turbine Generators, each rated at 2.0 MW, installed in two phases; the project is roughly one year away from completion.

Offshore Still More Expensive

A rough formula for calculating the cost of onshore wind projects is around $2 million per MW of capacity. Offshore is another story altogether and costs close to five times as much. Indicative of this cost discrepancy is the $290 million, 30-MW Block Island Offshore Windfarm shallow water project located in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Rhode Island. Deepwater Wind LLC (Providence, Rhode Island) is working on the project with a subsidiary of Gulf Island Fabrication Incorporated (NASDAQ:GIFI), called Gulf Island LLC (Houma, Louisiana). Also involved in the project is Specialty Diving Services Incorporated (North Kingstown, Rhode Island). The project involves the deployment of five 6-MW Direct-Drive Alstom Haliade 150 Model Wind Turbine Generator Sets. At a price of close to $10 million per MW of capacity, this project shows just how much more expensive offshore wind power can be.

For a comparison between combined-cycle and offshore, see February 9, 2016, article--New York to See More than $2.4 Billion Invested in Two Power Projects.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, five offices in North America and 10 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com/.