Wind Ranch Coming in '05
Oct 25 - Albuquerque Journal
Company To Build For Xcel Energy
Padoma Wind Power, based in La Jolla, Calif., expects to break ground in the
spring for the San Juan Mesa Wind Project near Elida, 65 miles northeast of
Roswell, near the Chaves-Roosevelt county line. Work is expected to be completed
within six months, Padoma CEO Jan Paulin said in a news release.
Minneapolis-based Xcel will buy the electricity for its 106,000 customers in
eastern New Mexico. A recently reinstated 1.5 cent per kilowatt-hour federal
production tax credit for wind developers will make the wind ranch an economical
source of electricity for Xcel customers, said Xcel spokesman Bill Crenshaw.
The wind ranch will be built on land that Padoma has leased from private
landowners, Paulin said.
Padoma has requested proposals from several wind turbine manufacturers to
determine which is best suited for the site. The company plans to erect between
60 and 120 turbine towers depending on the technology it choses, Paulin said.
Padoma plans to use local subcontractors for some construction work,
including building roads to the site.
"There will certainly be a large amount of economic activity that will
benefit the local population," he said.
In August 2003, Xcel issued a request for proposals for 80 megawatts of
wind-generated energy to comply with a state Public Regulation Commission rule
that requires utilities to derive 5 percent of their electricity from renewable
sources by 2006.
The Elida wind ranch will be the third major wind energy project in New
Mexico.
Xcel will also buy wind power from an 80 megawatt wind ranch being built by
Austin-based Cielo Wind Power near Tucumcari.
PNM began selling power in October 2003 from a 204-megawatt wind ranch built
near Fort Sumner by FPL Energy.