AUSTIN, Texas, April 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --
- 133 turbines on site will see increased
efficiency
- Used blades to be sustainably recycled
- Project, located in Sterling
County, Texas, began production in third quarter of
2009
- Repower expected to be complete by third quarter of
2021
Silvia Ortin, COO Onshore Wind
and Solar PV Americas, RWE Renewables: "Repowering Panther Creek
III allows us to increase our earnings for this site. In addition,
we are able to capture up-to-date turbine efficiency improvements,
extending the lifetime of this facility. Panther Creek III has been
an excellent performer for us in the past and we are able to employ
lessons learned from our previous repowering of Panther Creek I and
Panther Creek II wind farms to improve reliability."
RWE Renewables has partnered with GE Renewable Energy (NYSE: GE)
to repower its Panther Creek III wind farm in West Texas.
The repowering of Panther Creek III includes the replacement of
a significant portion of the wind turbine components, including
installation of longer blades and upgrading existing gearboxes. The
refurbishment effectively increases the annual production for all
133 wind turbine generators (WTGs) on the site, having a total
installed capacity of 215 megawatts (MW).
The erection and commissioning of the project is expected to be
complete in third quarter of 2021.
The blades that are removed during the repowering will be
processed and recycled, as a part of GE Renewable Energy's blade
recycling agreement with Veolia North
America. Veolia will process the blades for use as a raw
material for cement, utilizing a cement kiln co-processing
technology. Nearly 90% of the blade material, by weight, will
be reused as a repurposed engineered material for cement
production.
"GE Renewable Energy is proud to work with RWE on the Panther
Creek III repower project," said Ben
Stafford, GE Renewable Energy's Services Sales and
Commercial Operations Leader For Onshore Americas. "Through
repowering, we have the opportunity to extend the life of these
turbines, while also improving the performance and reliability of
the wind farm—and by sustainably recycling wind turbine blades, we
are working to create a circular economy for composite
materials."
This is the third repowering project RWE has commissioned
with GE Renewable Energy. Panther Creek I (142.5 MW) and Panther
Creek II (115.5 MW) with a total of 172 WTGs, were repowered in the
third quarter of 2019.
Panther Creek III came online in August
2009 and was the last of a three-phase project in
West Texas located in Sterling, Howard and Glasscock counties.
The U.S. accounts for more than one third of the RWE Group's
renewables capacity playing a key role in RWE's strategy to grow
its renewables business and to become carbon neutral by 2040. RWE
constructs, owns and operates some of the highest performing wind,
solar and energy storage projects in the U.S.
RWE has significant experience in the U.S. onshore market with
27 projects in operation and more to come.
As an established leader in renewables, RWE has recently entered
into a joint venture, New England Aqua Ventus, focused on floating
offshore wind in the state of Maine.
For more information, go to americas.rwe.com.
For further
inquiries:
|
Matt
Tulis
|
|
Communication
Manager
|
|
RWE
Renewables
|
|
M +1 512 698
4043
|
|
E matthew.tulis@rwe.com
|
RWE Renewables
RWE Renewables, a subsidiary of the
RWE Group, is one of the world's leading renewable energy
companies. With around 3,500 employees, the company has onshore and
offshore wind farms, photovoltaic plants and battery storage
facilities with a combined capacity of approximately 9 gigawatts.
RWE Renewables is driving the expansion of renewable energy in more
than 15 countries on four continents. By the end of 2022, RWE
Renewables targets to invest €5 billion net in renewable energy and
to grow its renewables portfolio to 13 gigawatts of net capacity.
Beyond this, the company plans to further grow in wind and solar
power. The focus is on the Americas, the core markets in
Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.
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SOURCE RWE Renewables