New Wind Farm Near Portales Will Be Largest In New Mexico

If you had to name things we are known for here in the Texas panhandle and eastern New Mexico, a safe bet would be the amount of turbines that dot our landscape. It wasn't until I moved to Amarillo that I had ever even seen one close up. It is impressive to see a structure that big swirling with the wind, especially when our panhandle wind is really kicking. That same wind that can be a pain in the butt sometimes, does have a huge benefit, and that is the amount of power we can generate in this region of the country.

Xcel Energy has launched their latest wind farm project, and this one is going to be big. Construction has begun just southeast of Portales, New Mexico on what will eventually be the largest single wind farm in New Mexico. 66 foundations have been poured so far, and when they are done, there will be 240 total turbines in the farm. At an expected cost of $900 million dollars, the project is slated to be completed by the end of this year.

Xcel calls the farm the Sagamore Wind Project and expects the 240 units to pump out around 522-megawatts. That is enough energy to power 194,000 homes every year. The good news for us, some of that power will be fed to us right here in the panhandle. Sagamore will send power to both homes in eastern New Mexico as well as us in west Texas.