Harnessing The Wind
on The High Plains of Texas

 

by: Bobby McDonald

 

Snyder, Texas, ninety miles south of Lubbock, is the county seat of Scurry County, and is known for its vast cotton fields and ranching industry. However, the area is fast becoming the "wind energy capital of Texas." With a population of 10,783 residents, Snyder was first founded on Deep Creek, a tributary of the Colorado River, and has long been know as the "town of the white buffalo," where legend has it that a white buffalo was killed near the town, on Deep Creek, near the time of its founding. The statue of the white buffalo is preserved on the downtown square.

 

This white buffalo statue rests on the downtown square of
Snyder, Texas, a testament to the town's founding.

 

 

However, "The Snyder Project," where wind turbine towers placed in the fields, is fast becoming a new symbol of Snyder. Enel SPA, through its subsidiary Enel North America, completed a wind farm, in Snyder, with the tallest utility-scale wind turbines in the United States, as well as investments by an affiliate of GE Energy. The Snyder Wind project, located in Scurry County, comprises 21 Vestas V(0 3.0 megawatt wind turbines, mounted on towers, measuring a record-breaking 345 feet. The construction project was completed in December of 2007.

 

 

The wind conditions are reported to be at maximum at the height of 345 feet, in the Snyder area, and will produce energy sufficient to power more than 12,000 average Texas homes, annually.  Wind energy is a "green" source of energy and offers an alternative to fossil power, in a leading petroleum producing state.

"Texas has always been a leader in energy and it is only fitting that we take the steps to harness the wind power of the state to produce green energy, for homes and businesses in the state, " expressed a company spokesperson. "This is a pioneering effort in wind energy and helps to solve some of our nation's dependency on oil."

 

 

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