Buffalo Gap Wind Farm
Encyclopedia
The Buffalo Gap Wind Farm is located in Nolan and Taylor Counties, about 20 miles (32.2 km) south west of Abilene, Texas
. It was constructed in three phases and has a total wind generation capacity of 524 megawatts (MW).
Buffalo Gap 1 consists of 67 Vestas
V-80 wind turbine
s, each rated at 1.8 MW, for a total capcity of 120.6 MW. The wind farm
was developed by SeaWest WindPower and is currently owned by AES Wind Generation. The power is sold to Direct Energy Texas under a 15-year power purchase agreement.
Buffalo Gap 2 is a 232.5 MW expansion consisting of 155 GE 1.5 MW Wind Turbines. The facility was developed by AES Wind Generation and went into commercial operation in June 2007. The power is sold to Direct Energy under a 10-year power purchase agreement.
Buffalo Gap 3 is a 170 MW addition, completed in September 2008, consisting of 74 Siemens 2.3 MW wind turbines.
Abilene, Texas
Abilene is a city in Taylor and Jones counties in west central Texas. The population was 117,063 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Abilene Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had a 2006 estimated population of 158,063. It is the county seat of Taylor County...
. It was constructed in three phases and has a total wind generation capacity of 524 megawatts (MW).
Buffalo Gap 1 consists of 67 Vestas
Vestas
Vestas Wind Systems A/S is a Danish manufacturer, seller, installer, and servicer of wind turbines. It is the largest in the world, but due to very rapid growth of its competitors, its market share decreased from 28% in 2007 to 12.5% in 2009...
V-80 wind turbine
Wind turbine
A wind turbine is a device that converts kinetic energy from the wind into mechanical energy. If the mechanical energy is used to produce electricity, the device may be called a wind generator or wind charger. If the mechanical energy is used to drive machinery, such as for grinding grain or...
s, each rated at 1.8 MW, for a total capcity of 120.6 MW. The wind farm
Wind farm
A wind farm is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electric power. A large wind farm may consist of several hundred individual wind turbines, and cover an extended area of hundreds of square miles, but the land between the turbines may be used for agricultural or other...
was developed by SeaWest WindPower and is currently owned by AES Wind Generation. The power is sold to Direct Energy Texas under a 15-year power purchase agreement.
Buffalo Gap 2 is a 232.5 MW expansion consisting of 155 GE 1.5 MW Wind Turbines. The facility was developed by AES Wind Generation and went into commercial operation in June 2007. The power is sold to Direct Energy under a 10-year power purchase agreement.
Buffalo Gap 3 is a 170 MW addition, completed in September 2008, consisting of 74 Siemens 2.3 MW wind turbines.