The World’s Largest Wind Farm Began Operations Today

The world’s largest windfarm began operating today. The Roscoe Wind Complex is composed of 627 turbines over four counties in western Texas. According to E.On Climate and Renewables North America, the owner, it is already generating at full capacity — that’s 781.5 megawatts, or enough electricity to power 230,000 homes. John McFarland wrote for the Associated Press:

At the Roscoe wind farm, the turbines range in size from about 350 to 415 feet tall, and they’re generally spaced about 900 feet apart, Woodson said. The land is leased, mostly from dryland cotton farmers who continue to work the fields around them, Woodson said. Texas is the nation’s leading producer of cotton, most of it from West Texas.

“It’s a use that appears to be quite complimentary,” Woodson said. “This whole community was extremely welcoming to us.”

E.ON has facilities around the state, but it could be awhile before the company builds more huge wind farms in West Texas because of the glut of wind companies and lack of transmission lines, Woodson said. The state is planning more lines from West Texas to more heavily populated areas, but they won’t be completed for at least two more years.