The wind farm is estimated to produce enough electricity to power more than 45,000 Texas homes

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EDPR starts operations at 209MW Reloj del Sol Wind Farm. (Credit: EDP Renewables.)

EDP Renewables (EDPR), through its subsidiary EDP Renewables North America, has commenced the commercial operations at 209MW Reloj del Sol wind farm, located in Zapata County, Texas.

Featuring 63 Nordex Acciona AW132 3.4 MW wind turbines, the wind farm is estimated to produce enough clean energy to meet the electricity consumption needs of more than 45,000 Texas homes.

Commissioning of the wind project created 101 full-time jobs during construction and 10 permanent jobs, dedicated to operating and maintaining the wind farm.

The wind farm will strengthen Texas’s grid and provide nearly $36m in direct payments to local governments and $100m in payments to landowners throughout the life of the project, said the company.

Also, the Reloj del Sol facility is expected to save more than 372 million gallons of water annually, which is otherwise be used for cooling traditional power plants.

The project marks the latest project in EDPR’s growing energy portfolio in Texas, adding to its four operating wind farms in the state.

EDPR’s Texas portfolio totals 909MW in operating renewable energy capacity, producing adequate energy to power nearly 236,000 average Texas homes annually.

Also, the company is currently building the 200MW Wildcat Creek wind farm, located in Cooke County, around 50 miles (80km) north of Dallas-Fort Worth.

The company stated: “EDPR NA is committed to continuing to grow Texas’s leadership in renewable energy and increasing the already $1.5 billion it has invested in the state.”

In April, EDP Renewables signed an agreement with UK-based Greencoat Capital to sell a 55% cash equity stake in its 405MW Illinois wind portfolio, which includes the Bright Stalk and Harvest Ridge wind farms.

Brought into commercial operations in December 2019, the Bright Stalk facility has an installed capacity of 205MW.

With a capacity of 200MW, Harvest Ridge was brought online in July 2020.