New Energy Project Will Be Even Larger than the Pickens Plan

September 16, 2008 By Ariel Schwartz 26 Comments

Move over, T. Boone Pickens. You’re about to be overshadowed by Babcock and Brown.

Australian developer Babcock and Brown has announced that it is working on a 79.5 MW wind farm in the Texas Panhandle— but the company has much larger ambitions than a single farm. Majestic Wind Farm is only one part of a $1 billion effort company to build 567.5 MW of wind power throughout Texas, Wisconsin, and South Dakota. But there’s more.

Babcock and Brown’s current plans are part of an even bigger project in the Texas Panhandle Loop to create 8,000 MW of power from renewables, natural gas, and coal-fired plants. Companies including Airtricity, Celanese, and Occidental Energy Ventures will join Babcock and Brown in the massive effort.

Compare that to Pickens’ plan to install 4,000 MW of wind power in Texas—a staggering number in its own right. And lets not forget that Pickens is only one man, while the larger plan is part of a combined effort from multiple companies.

Babcock and Brown hasn’t announced a completion date for the 8,000 MW plan, but its Majestic Wind Farm will be up and running by the end of the year. Here’s hoping for an even bigger project to come along and steal Babcock and Brown’s thunder.

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Filed Under: Clean Energy, Wind Energy Tagged With: babcock and brown, pickens, T. Boone Pickens, Texas, texas panhandle, Wind Energy, wind power

Uncle B

Wind power is great, but it won’t be enough If the U.S. had chosen to be a moral people, and leaving Iraqi oil alone, and following Al Gore, decided to develop the South Western deserts, with the technology of the times – solar/thermal-molten sodium – electricity installations, for the same amount of money as that war cost, ($650 Billion), today, we would be tapping into the largest, renewable, sustainable, energy source the world has ever known. It would have paid every energy bill in the U.S.A. for maintenance fees only – FOREVER! It would be equivalent to an oil field that can NEVER run dry! Low cost electric power, and storeable hydrogen gasoline replacement from the electricity, for all!

After the millions of murders, and $650 billions of dollars, borrowed from our children’s futures and pissed away, with thousands of our own and others maimed and disfigured for life, millions of families utterly destroyed, ours and theirs, we are no closer to Iraqi oil production than the Iraqis are!

The next time you hear a blithering idiot spoiled brat, drunken, drug addicted, sociopath, rich Arabic saber dancing daddie’s boy oilman, stand at a microphone and threaten YOUR safety with someone ELSE’S weapons, remember what you lost America, remember, and weep! (also see http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=a-solar-grand-plan)
Uncle B

Wind power is great, but it won’t be enough If the U.S. had chosen to be a moral people, and leaving Iraqi oil alone, and following Al Gore, decided to develop the South Western deserts, with the technology of the times – solar/thermal-molten sodium – electricity installations, for the same amount of money as that war cost, ($650 Billion), today, we would be tapping into the largest, renewable, sustainable, energy source the world has ever known. It would have paid every energy bill in the U.S.A. for maintenance fees only – FOREVER! It would be equivalent to an oil field that can NEVER run dry! Low cost electric power, and storeable hydrogen gasoline replacement from the electricity, for all!

After the millions of murders, and $650 billions of dollars, borrowed from our children’s futures and pissed away, with thousands of our own and others maimed and disfigured for life, millions of families utterly destroyed, ours and theirs, we are no closer to Iraqi oil production than the Iraqis are!

The next time you hear a blithering idiot spoiled brat, drunken, drug addicted, sociopath, rich Arabic saber dancing daddie’s boy oilman, stand at a microphone and threaten YOUR safety with someone ELSE’S weapons, remember what you lost America, remember, and weep! (also see http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=a-solar-grand-plan)
http://redgreenandblue.org Rod Adams

Ariel:

I am not sure why you are so excited about this announcement. Look at the numbers – the wind component of the announced project is described as being 1,000 MW out of a planned 8,000 MW total that includes “renewables, natural gas and coal-fired power plants”.

Since wind developers normally advertise their system CAPACITY, not output, that means that the wind component will be about 333 MW when average capacity factor is taken into account compared to perhaps 6,000 MW of fossil fuel power when those capacity factors are included.

Building new coal fired plants now locks us in to 60 or more years of burning a dirty fuel that is not only an air pollution problem, but that also causes a significant negative environmental impact on the mining, transportation and solid waste disposal portion of the fuel cycle.

In other words, I think that the wind component of this project is strictly diversionary and designed to gain the approval of “the green community”. It did not succeed for me.
http://redgreenandblue.org Rod Adams

Ariel:

I am not sure why you are so excited about this announcement. Look at the numbers – the wind component of the announced project is described as being 1,000 MW out of a planned 8,000 MW total that includes “renewables, natural gas and coal-fired power plants”.

Since wind developers normally advertise their system CAPACITY, not output, that means that the wind component will be about 333 MW when average capacity factor is taken into account compared to perhaps 6,000 MW of fossil fuel power when those capacity factors are included.

Building new coal fired plants now locks us in to 60 or more years of burning a dirty fuel that is not only an air pollution problem, but that also causes a significant negative environmental impact on the mining, transportation and solid waste disposal portion of the fuel cycle.

In other words, I think that the wind component of this project is strictly diversionary and designed to gain the approval of “the green community”. It did not succeed for me.
Eastcoasty

Misleading article. They’re planning also non-renewables including COAL. Wind could be 10% of their 8,000 MW, for all the information we have here, or 800 MW.

The article states: “…8,000 MW of power from renewables, natural gas, and coal-fired plants.”

The article quotes an initial “79.5 MW plant”, with plans for only “567.5″ MW in several states. That’s far below T. Boone’s 4,000 MW in Texas alone.
Eastcoasty

Misleading article. They’re planning also non-renewables including COAL. Wind could be 10% of their 8,000 MW, for all the information we have here, or 800 MW.

The article states: “…8,000 MW of power from renewables, natural gas, and coal-fired plants.”

The article quotes an initial “79.5 MW plant”, with plans for only “567.5″ MW in several states. That’s far below T. Boone’s 4,000 MW in Texas alone.
some dude

those wind generators should put out quite a bit of power the next time a hurricane comes though
some dude

those wind generators should put out quite a bit of power the next time a hurricane comes though
aaron

@ just watching: So glad other people are realizing this.

Wind energy cannot be a full solution because of its lack of reliability. Whats more, many of those wind companies are operating recklessly…pumping power onto constrained transmission lines…and not following schedules. Anyone familiar with the operation of mass power grids knows the 8000mw in the panhandle they are talking about is going to be a nightmare. There isnt enough transmission in all of texas to get it to market…and i got news for y’all…no one lives in the panhandle!!! youre gonna have a lot of losses getting that power all the way to dallas.
aaron

@ just watching: So glad other people are realizing this.

Wind energy cannot be a full solution because of its lack of reliability. Whats more, many of those wind companies are operating recklessly…pumping power onto constrained transmission lines…and not following schedules. Anyone familiar with the operation of mass power grids knows the 8000mw in the panhandle they are talking about is going to be a nightmare. There isnt enough transmission in all of texas to get it to market…and i got news for y’all…no one lives in the panhandle!!! youre gonna have a lot of losses getting that power all the way to dallas.
Andy

This is the same Babcock and Brown (ASX:BNB) whose share price has dropped from over $30 to $1 in the last year. Do I hear someone say Lehman Brothers?
Andy

This is the same Babcock and Brown (ASX:BNB) whose share price has dropped from over $30 to $1 in the last year. Do I hear someone say Lehman Brothers?
JIffy Loo

Outstanding! We need a plan thats larger than life!

Jiff

http://www.anonymize.us.tc
JIffy Loo

Outstanding! We need a plan thats larger than life!

Jiff

http://www.anonymize.us.tc
niaher

Jon, it might be true what you say, but let’s face it – it’s still better than not having any windmill farms at all. Plus jobs for locals will be created regardless of who the investors are. I believe it’s not such a big sacrifice, but it does help solving the global problem of the environmental crisis.
niaher

Jon, it might be true what you say, but let’s face it – it’s still better than not having any windmill farms at all. Plus jobs for locals will be created regardless of who the investors are. I believe it’s not such a big sacrifice, but it does help solving the global problem of the environmental crisis.
Mike

I’m all for these but we must not let Pickens or any one else steal the land for their power transmission lines from the land owners by using emanant domain. They should be made to pay the land owners a reasonable lease payment.
Mike

I’m all for these but we must not let Pickens or any one else steal the land for their power transmission lines from the land owners by using emanant domain. They should be made to pay the land owners a reasonable lease payment.
http://stonecipher.typepad.com Stonecipher

Pickens has some more comptetion on this issue: http://stonecipher.typepad.com/the_stonecipher_report/2008/09/the-energy-expe.html
http://stonecipher.typepad.com Stonecipher

Pickens has some more comptetion on this issue: http://stonecipher.typepad.com/the_stonecipher_report/2008/09/the-energy-expe.html
Just watching

Wind is a fine thing for power but is not reliable 24/7.

for every wind farm we need to build a geothermal power station of equal power.
Just watching

Wind is a fine thing for power but is not reliable 24/7.

for every wind farm we need to build a geothermal power station of equal power.
http://www.ournaturallife.com Jon

DUMB! I believe in windfarms, however the last thing we need is foreign investment in windfarms. To allow it just causes our hard earned money to be sent to other countries for a resource on our shore, the wind. Dumb! We already send enough money overseas for OIL, why repeat that mistake? Follow the E2 model ( http://www.pbs.org/e2/ ) on keeping wind energy as a local community business. It creates local jobs and local investment opportunities.
http://www.ournaturallife.com Jon

DUMB! I believe in windfarms, however the last thing we need is foreign investment in windfarms. To allow it just causes our hard earned money to be sent to other countries for a resource on our shore, the wind. Dumb! We already send enough money overseas for OIL, why repeat that mistake? Follow the E2 model ( http://www.pbs.org/e2/ ) on keeping wind energy as a local community business. It creates local jobs and local investment opportunities.
http://resueht.blogspot.com Steve

As a native Texan, I am glad to see something like this is happening, even if I’m not around to see the results.

Now if they could just harness more solar energy just south of there…
http://resueht.blogspot.com Steve

As a native Texan, I am glad to see something like this is happening, even if I’m not around to see the results.

Now if they could just harness more solar energy just south of there…