The Karankawa wind farm is located in San Patricio and Bee counties, northeast of Mathis, Texas. The wind farm covers 18,000 acres owned by 65 landowners. Karankawa is powered by 124 of GE’s wind turbines ranging in capacity between 2.3 and 2.52 MW, with a total capacity of 307.06MW.
The wind farm is the sixth-largest in Texas and the largest wind farm of Avangrid Renewables in Texas. Karankawa is part of the company’s wind portfolio of over 1.2GW delivering clean electricity to both commercial and utility consumers.
Our new Karankawa Wind Farm began delivering enough clean electricity to austinenergy and energyforlife wqh0CpV5EK
— Avangrid Renewables (@AvangridRen) February 6, 2020
The wind farm is a “win” for the region’s farming economy and the local community. Over $29 million in land lease payments and $60 million in taxes are projected for the region over the first 20 years. Construction of the wind farm employed over 350 people and now that it is operational, will employ up to 12 full-time employees and support local businesses through the purchase of products and services.
Karankawa is supplying energy to Austin Power and Nike to help the companies meet their clean energy goals. Austin Energy has set a target to supply 65 percent of electricity generated by renewable sources to its customers by 2027. Nike has committed to using 100 percent renewable energy for all operations at its facilities by 2025 as a part of its RE100 commitment.
“We are excited to grow our Texas footprint and look forward to being part of the community in Bee and San Patricio counties for decades to come,” said Avangrid Renewables President and CEO Alejandro de Hoz in a statement. “We value the opportunity to work with Austin Energy and Nike and are proud to help our customers achieve their ambitious sustainability goals.”
