Post by jeffolie on Jul 8, 2009 11:36:40 GMT -6
Pickens should think about relocating his wind farm to California where the laws promote non coal electricity generation. Although electrical transmission lines and environment issues are making alternative electrical product in the desert almost impossible.
The stagnant oil prices may have had a big part in the descision.
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T. Boone Pickens scraps huge wind farm.
Oil billionaire Thomas Boone Pickens Jr. has dropped plans to build a giant wind farm in the Texas Panhandle.
Pickens, who made much of his fortune buying up oil and gas companies in the 1980s, put off the wind power project because of the difficulty of getting credit for it in the sour economy.
He’d planned a 4,000-megawatt complex that might cost as much as $10 billion, and Mesa Power, his company, has already ordered 667 wind turbines for it, though they won’t be delivered for several years.
One problem facing the huge project in Pampa, on U.S. Highway 60 northeast of Amarillo, was a lack of heavy transmission lines needed to link any wind generators to the power grid.
“The capital markets have dealt us all a setback,” said Pickens in a statement emailed to the San Francisco Business Times through his PR firm. “I am committed to 667 wind turbines and I am going to find projects for them.”
Though Pickens made his money in oil, he has worked in recent years to end this country’s dependence on foreign oil. He’s put forward plans for widespread use of natural gas vehicles, for example (though they haven’t always been well-received) as well as pushing for wind power.
Pickens said he hasn’t abandoned the project. “I expect to continue development of the Pampa project, but not at the pace that I originally expected,” he said.
The stagnant oil prices may have had a big part in the descision.
============================================================
T. Boone Pickens scraps huge wind farm.
Oil billionaire Thomas Boone Pickens Jr. has dropped plans to build a giant wind farm in the Texas Panhandle.
Pickens, who made much of his fortune buying up oil and gas companies in the 1980s, put off the wind power project because of the difficulty of getting credit for it in the sour economy.
He’d planned a 4,000-megawatt complex that might cost as much as $10 billion, and Mesa Power, his company, has already ordered 667 wind turbines for it, though they won’t be delivered for several years.
One problem facing the huge project in Pampa, on U.S. Highway 60 northeast of Amarillo, was a lack of heavy transmission lines needed to link any wind generators to the power grid.
“The capital markets have dealt us all a setback,” said Pickens in a statement emailed to the San Francisco Business Times through his PR firm. “I am committed to 667 wind turbines and I am going to find projects for them.”
Though Pickens made his money in oil, he has worked in recent years to end this country’s dependence on foreign oil. He’s put forward plans for widespread use of natural gas vehicles, for example (though they haven’t always been well-received) as well as pushing for wind power.
Pickens said he hasn’t abandoned the project. “I expect to continue development of the Pampa project, but not at the pace that I originally expected,” he said.