April 05, 2005 09:01 AM US Eastern Timezone
FPL Energy Announces New Wind Farm in Texas
JUNO BEACH, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 5, 2005--FPL Energy, LLC, a subsidiary of FPL Group, Inc. (NYSE:FPL), today announced it will build, own and operate a new wind farm in Texas, the Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center, to be located in Taylor County, Texas.
The 220.5-megawatt Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center will be comprised of 147 1.5-megawatt wind turbines spread over a 22,500 acre site approximately 15 miles southwest of Abilene. Initial site work on the project is underway with full-scale construction expected to begin in the next few weeks and be completed no later than December 2005.
The company said it expects to spend more than $15 million on the purchase of goods and services throughout the region during construction. In addition, the company said up to 130 construction jobs will be created during the peak construction period.
"The Horse Hollow project is another important milestone in the disciplined growth of our wind portfolio," said Jim Robo, president of FPL Energy. "This project will bring an important new source of clean, renewable power to the region and provide a significant economic impact to the area in the form of taxes, new jobs, lease payments to landowners and the purchase of local goods and services."
The Horse Hollow project is FPL Energy's second wind project in Taylor County. The company recently began commercial operation at the 114-megawatt Callahan Divide Wind Energy Center located approximately 12 miles southwest of Abilene. The company's previously announced 106.5-megawatt Weatherford Wind Energy Center in Oklahoma is under construction and expected to begin commercial operation during the second quarter 2005. Together these projects represent 441 megawatts of the company's goal of adding up to 750 megawatts of new wind to its portfolio in 2005. When the Weatherford and Horse Hollow projects are complete, FPL Energy will own and operate nearly 3,200 net megawatts of wind generation.
FPL Energy is a leading wholesale generator utilizing clean fuels such as natural gas, wind, solar, hydroelectric and nuclear to generate electricity. It is the nation's leader in wind energy, with 44 wind facilities in operation in 15 states. It is a subsidiary of FPL Group, one of the nation's largest providers of electricity-related services with annual revenues of more than $10 billion. FPL Group's principal subsidiary is Florida Power & Light Company, one of the nation's largest electric utilities, serving more than 4.2 million customer accounts in Florida. Additional information is available on the Internet at http://www.FPLEnergy.com, http://www.FPLGroup.com and http://www.FPL.com.
Note to Editors: High-resolution logos and executive head shots are available for download at http://www.fpl.com/news/contents/logos.shtml .
Contacts
FPL Energy, LLC, Juno Beach
Steve Stengel, 888-867-3050
