Wind and Geothermal Explored for Energy Production

Invenergy Wind builds wind farm in Scurry County while the state’s first geothermal lease explores resources along the Texas coastline; also, CB&I to build LNG plant in Peru.

Invenergy Wind Constructing Wind Farm in Scurry County

Chicago-based Invenergy Wind LLC, through one of its wholly owned subsidiaries, is adding 130.5 MW to its wind energy portfolio with the development of the Camp Springs Wind Energy Center in Scurry County in the Texas Panhandle.  

The wind farm will consist of 87 General Electric Wind Turbines that are expected to generate enough kilowatt  hours of energy annually to power about 40,000 homes.

The project is Invenergy Wind’s first Texas-based project. The original development work was completed by Dallas-based Wind Tex Energy LP.

Site construction began in the fall of 2006,  and commercial operation is expected in June. D.H. Blattner & Sons was hired as the construction contractor. Invenergy Services LLC will serve as project operator.

Land Office Awards State’s First Geothermal Lease

Texas awarded the state’s first lease for geothermal energy production. Ormat Technologies Inc. of Reno, Nev., had the high bids for six tracts of coastal land in seven counties totaling more than 11,000 acres. The lease allows Ormat to explore the potential of the land’s geothermal resources and produce geothermal power from the tracts.

Ormat paid $55,645 to lease the submerged land for an average of about $5 an acre, or more than twice the minimum bid of $2 an acre. In addition to the lease bonus, the Texas Permanent School Fund will earn 10 percent of any electricity produced from the geothermal leases.

The tracts of land cover 1,174 to 2,480 acres along the coast in Jefferson, Galveston, Chambers, Calhoun, Jackson, Nueces and Kleberg counties.

Geothermal energy is heat energy from the earth’s molten interior.

Weir Bros. Buys 81 Acres at Alliance for Container Facility

Dallas excavating and construction company Weir Bros. Inc. purchased 81 acres from Dallas developer Hillwood for the development of a container storage facility. The site, near the Alliance Global Logistics Hub, initially will have capacity for more than 3,000 containers. The location will allow Weir Bros. to speed the movement of international goods from the West Coast seaports through the Alliance BNSF (Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Co.) intermodal yard to customers.

Construction began on the container storage facility in January and should be completed by the second quarter.

The storage yard is one of several projects being developed at the Alliance Global Logistics Hub near the BNSF intermodal yard as a result of increased imports flowing through the facility. Con-way Freight is building a 40,000 sq-ft freight service center. KFS Inc. is building a 140,000 sq-ft freight forwarding facility. Hillwood is planning a 450,000 sq-ft speculative building.

Additionally, logistics companies Digisource, Metro Active and Trans-Trade announced at the Alliance Global Logistics Hub plans to capture more Asian import business, and IDC, an importer of outdoor lighting products, has expanded its distribution center by 130,000 sq ft to handle an increase in its business.

CB&I Awarded LNG Project in Peru

The Woodlands-based CB&I was awarded a contract by Peru LNG S.R.L. for the engineering, procurement, fabrication, construction, and commissioning of a liquefied natural gas plant in Pampa Malchorita, in Peru south of Lima.

CB&I’s commercial scope of work is valued in excess of $1.5 billion.

Peru LNG S.R.L. is a consortium comprised of Dallas-based Hunt Oil Co. SK Corp. of Korea and Repsol YPF S.A. of Spain.