AEP Buys New Enron Windfarm in Texas

Enron Wind Corp has sold one of its large windfarms in Texas.

COLUMBUS, Ohio, US, 2002-01-14 [SolarAccess.com] American Electric Power has purchased the 160 MW Indian Mesa project, located near Iraan, east of Fort Stockton, and will be responsible for fulfilling existing power supply arrangements with City Public Service, the municipal electric utility for San Antonio, which will buy all the power generated from the turbines under long-term agreements. AEP acquired the windfarm from Enron Wind of California for US$175 million. The purchase will be funded internally, but it intends to seek project financing later. The windfarm uses 107 Enron 1.5 MW turbines, the largest manufactured in the U.S. The project was commissioned in December, and was developed and constructed by Enron Wind, which also supplied turbines to AEP’s 150 MW Trent Mesa site. “We are pleased to add the Indian Mesa Wind Project to our growing fleet of renewable power generation resources,” says Dwayne Hart of AEP Energy Services. “The addition of Indian Mesa furthers our goal of enhancing the renewable portion of our overall generation portfolio.” The deal makes AEP one of the largest renewable power generators in the country. Enron Wind was not named in the recent bankruptcy filing by Enron Corp. AEP is based in Columbus, and owns and operates 38,000 megawatts of generating capacity. It provides retail electricity to seven million customers around the world.