Iberdrola has begun installing the turbines at its 202 MW Baffin wind farm in Texas, and the company expects grid connection by year-end.
The project will feature 101 Gamesa G97 turbines with a unit capacity of 2 MW each. Iberdrola says some $400 million has been earmarked for investment in Baffin, the third wind farm in the company's Penascal wind complex: Penascal I and Penascal II, each with an installed capacity of 202 MW, were commissioned in 2009 and 2010, respectively.
This new wind farm, which began construction in 2013, will bring capacity of the Penascal complex up to 606 MW, making it Iberdrola's largest renewable facility worldwide.
According to the company, the Penascal complex has been contributing to local economic development and job creation for the past six years. When this extension is commissioned by year-end, about 400 local construction jobs will have been created and an operations and maintenance team of more than 30 members will have been formed.
Iberdrola also says this latest extension demonstrates its long-term commitment to the U.S. With clean energy facilities spanning 19 states, the company's total wind power capacity in the country amounts to 5,443 MW.
