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ACCIONA Energy, a global operator of renewable energy projects, announced today that the San Roman Wind Farm has begun commercial operation. The 93MW San Roman project is ACCIONA’s eighth wind farm in the U.S. and brings the company’s total U.S. wind capacity to 721 MW.
San Roman is located near Brownsville, Texas and is equipped with thirty-one AW125/3000 turbines manufactured by Nordex/ACCIONA Windpower. Each turbine has a rotor diameter of 125 meters and is mounted on an 87.5-meter steel tower.
In addition to owning and operating the project, ACCIONA served as general contractor for San Roman’s construction, completing the project in approximately 11 months while generating more than 100,000 hours of work for local contractors and maintaining a near-perfect safety record. ACCIONA has hired a team of local employees to manage the wind farm’s long-term operations and maintenance.
“ACCIONA is proud to complete this latest addition to our U.S. renewable energy portfolio and become a part of the community here in Cameron County,” said Ilya Hartmann, CEO of ACCIONA Energy North America. “ACCIONA’s expertise as a global leader in renewable energy, along with the great work of our local partners and contractors, helped make this project a success.”
The new facility will produce enough electricity to power more than 30,000 Texas homes. Over its 25-year lifespan, San Roman is expected to generate $30 million in tax revenue for local school districts and other public services, as well as more than $25 million in lease payments to local landowners.
ACCIONA demonstrated its commitment to sustainability during the development and construction of the San Roman Wind Farm by performing extensive wildlife studies prior to construction and providing safety and environmental training for all staff on the project.
The company also conducted a social impact analysis to understand the project’s effect on local stakeholders. Based on this analysis of community needs, ACCIONA chose to establish a scholarship fund and a community benefit fund to support education and job growth in the area.
1,500 MW in North America
ACCIONA currently owns 721 MW of operating wind power capacity in the United States, including the San Roman Wind Farm in Texas, three wind farms in Oklahoma (329 MW), one in North and South Dakota (180 MW), one in Illinois (100.5 MW) and another two in North Dakota and Iowa (12 MW and 6 MW respectively). It also has a 64 MW concentrating solar power plant in Nevada.
The company also has 181 MW of operational wind power capacity in Canada (in Alberta, Ontario and New Brunswick) and 556 MW in Mexico (all in Oaxaca).
With the new wind farm, ACCIONA Energy’s renewable energy capacity in North America now exceeds 1,500 MW. ACCIONA recently announced that it will construct a new 168 MW wind farm and a 227 MWp solar plant in Mexico by the end of 2018.
ACCIONA has committed to invest around $2.5 billion by 2020 to build new renewable energy installations worldwide, increasing the company’s capacity by approximately 1,900 MW.
(Photo credit: ACCIONA's twitter)