Acciona Energy has inaugurated 93MW San Roman wind farm located in Texas, US.

ACCIONA Chairman José Manuel Entrecanales and Texas Secretary of State Rolando Pablos presided over the ceremony, which was attended by business and community leaders from across Texas and the U.S.

San Roman will produce enough energy to power more than 30,000 homes in Southeast Texas. Located near Brownsville, Texas and equipped with 31 AW125/3000 turbines manufactured by ACCIONA Windpower (Nordex Group), San Roman is ACCIONA’s eighth wind farm in the US and brings the company’s total US wind capacity to 721MW. Each turbine has a 125m diameter rotor on 87.5 m high (hub height) steel tower.

Chairman Entrecanales said that “today, renewable energy is the lowest-cost option for generating electricity. With a strong electric market and a great business climate, Texas has attracted wind energy development and guaranteed an affordable source of power for its growing economy.We are committed to increasing the development of renewable energy worldwide and the US is one of our top strategic markets. We are looking for future opportunities that will create benefits both for ACCIONA and for the communities that host our projects.”

In his speech, Secretary Pablos said: “As one of Texas’ top foreign direct investors, Spain is a close friend, ally, and trade partner, and we are honored to join them in celebrating the inauguration of this important renewable energy project, which will help power economic development in the border region and beyond I am confident that ACCIONA’s commitment to the local community will further strengthen the infrastructure of the region to support even more investment and job growth.”

The San Roman Wind Farm is expected to generate $30m in tax revenue for local school districts and other public services and approximately $25m in lease payments to local landowners over its operating life.

COMMUNITY SUPPORT

As part of ACCIONA’s commitment to supporting the local community, the company also established a scholarship program with local school districts that will provide merit-based scholarships to two deserving students each year for the full life of the project. Chairman Entrecanales and Secretary of State Pablos awarded the first of those scholarships at the dedication ceremony. ACCIONA provides similar scholarship programs at all its US windfarms.

Construction of the San Roman wind farm was completed in 11 months and generated more than 100,000 hours of work for local contractors.

ACCIONA currently owns 721MW of operating wind power capacity in the US, bringing its total North American renewable energy capacity to more than 1,500MW. Along with the San Roman Wind Farm, ACCIONA’s U.S.-based portfolio includes three wind farms in Oklahoma (329MW), one in North and South Dakota (180MW), one in Illinois (100.5MW) and two in North Dakota (12MW) and Iowa (6MW). ACCIONA also operates a 64MW concentrating solar power plant in Nevada.

ACCIONA has also started construction on a new 168MW wind farm and will install a 339MW solar plant in Mexico, both expected to be completed by the end of 2018.

ACCIONA has committed to invest around $2.5bn between 2016 and 2020 to build renewable energy installations worldwide, increasing the company’s capacity by approximately 1,900MW.