Sep 1, 2009
DNN: DOE Awards $114 million cash grant to South Texas wind farm
DOE Awards $114 million cash grant to South Texas wind farm
Dallas Morning News
by: Dave Michaels
The U.S. Department of Energy announced this morning that it awarded its first (and probably largest) renewable energy cash-assistance grants. The funding was contained in the appropriation funded by the stimulus law.
The largest grant, $114 million, was awarded to the Penascal Wind Farm, a controversial South Texas wind farm that battled opposition from environmentalists and the King Ranch on its way to operation. The wind farm was built on land owned by the Kenedy Ranch, developed by Spanish firm Iberdrola Renewables. San Antonio utility CPS Energy and South Texas Electric Cooperative are purchasing electricity from the 202-megawatt facility, which began operating in April.
The Wall Street Journal reports today that Iberdrola was the big winner in Tuesday's announcement, winning a total of $294 million in assistance for five wind farms.
The South Texas projects has been dogged by controversy. The owners of the King Ranch criticized the local and federal incentives being sought by the developer and lamented the altered landscape of "pristine" ranch land. Environmental groups sued to block the project, arguing the wind farm, which is near the Baffin Bay, would kill too many birds. Iberdrola says it's using radar originally developed for NASA and the US Air Force to detect approaching birds from as far as four miles away.
The DOE announced 11 other grants on Tuesday, for a total of $502 million. Matt Rogers, DOE's senior advisor for Recovery Act implementation, said the remaining awards would likely be for smaller projects, since the total authorized for the cash assistance was about $3 billion. The stimulus made the cash grants available in lieu of renewable energy tax credits.
Rogers said Texas wind developers have been "quite active" in applying for funding. The officials on a conference call said there have been more applications overall for solar installations. Rogers said he was "highly" confident that more grants would be made to Texas renewable projects.
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Posted by Algebra 1 on 03/02 at 09:43 PM
Windmills are a common sight on the hills in Ireland. You can look up and see hundreds of them churning away when the wind is blowing. In the US, wind farms are popping up and making their mark, too. The governor of Colorado is in favor of wind energy and has tossed out green incentives to encourage this alternative.