Wind firms describe plans; Wiring could begin in 2010
The companies that will wire the Panhandle for wind energy provided more details Monday at an Amarillo meeting.
About 250 people attended the meeting hosted by Class 4 Winds, a local wind energy advocacy group.
Sharyland Utilities will build at least 250 miles of the Panhandle system in the south central part of the region, including a stretch across Palo Duro Canyon from Armstrong County to Briscoe County.
“I told our engineers we built a pipeline over the Andes in Peru, we can do this,” said Mark Caskey, vice president for operations at Sharyland.
The length of the lines could increase by 15 to 20 percent because they will be built around obstacles like cemeteries, historical sites or environmentally sensitive areas.
Cross Texas Transmission will construct about the same amount of transmission from the Childress area to Pampa, and then south and from Childress to western Briscoe County.
Total cost of the Panhandle system could reach $1 billion.
There are still permits to obtain, and the Public Utilities Commission will approve priority lines to the south of the Panhandle first to relieve congestion from too much wind development already in place. Both companies estimate construction will begin late in 2010 and be completed in late 2013.
Sharyland has a contractor working in local courthouses identifying landowners who could possibly be on a transmission route, and Cross Texas is hiring consultants.
The towers that will hold the transmission lines will mostly be made from a lattice of metal and stand 125 feet tall, about half the height of a typical wind turbine tower, Caskey said. They will be spaced up to 1,200 feet apart with four arms holding the lines.
By Kevin Welch
28 April 2009
Tags: Wind power, Wind energy
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