Route 66 Wind project east of Amarillo secures financing

Boston-based First Wind announced Wednesday it had obtained $206 million in financing for its Route 66 Wind energy project in Armstrong and Carson counties near Amarillo, according to a news release from the company.

First Wind obtained financing help from Morgan Stanley and Santander Bank. The new wind farm will be capable of generating 150 megawatts, which can power up to 60,000 homes.

According to the release:

Construction work began in late 2013, and is expected to create hundreds of jobs in the state of Texas. M.A. Mortenson is acting as the prime contractor. […] Vestas will supply 75 V110 turbines with a capacity of 2 megawatts (MW) each to the project near Amarillo, Texas.

Armstrong and Carson counties are immediately east of Amarillo. So the landscape in that area will change fairly rapidly.

A wind farm already operates north of Vega, Texas, which is west of Amarillo. Another wind farm is scheduled to be built west of Adrian, Texas. Other prominent wind farms along the Route 66 corridor sit in Weatherford, Okla., and south of San Jon, N.M.

There’s gold in them thar windy plains.

(Image of wind turbines near Vega, Texas, by Larry Myhre via Flickr)

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