Largest Federally-Owned Wind Farm to Open Near Amarillo

Photo by flickr user rutlo

The new wind farm should open in 2014.

Texas leads the nation in wind energy production and capacity. Now the federal government is getting in on the action in an effort to clean up its carbon-emitting act.

The Department of Energy announced this week that Texas will be the home of the country’s largest federally-owned wind farm. The farm will be built at the Pantex Plant, which is the nation’s primary site for nuclear weapon maintenance. The plant, located about 20 miles northeast of Amarillo, will have 60 percent of its energy needs met by the farm.

The wind farm will be composed of five turbines spread over 1,500 acres. Its 11.5 megawatt capacity is enough to power 3,500 homes, according to the Department of Energy.

The project is part of an effort to reduce carbon emissions by federal agencies. The Obama administration has set a goal for 20 percent of all federal power consumption to come from clean sources of energy.

The farm will be paid for through long-term savings generated from the turbines’ efficiency, and the project should start producing electricity by next summer.