Acciona Energía has initiated construction works on its second wind farm, called Palmas Altas, in Texas, US. Credit: Brady Bellini on Unsplash.

Spanish renewable energy company Acciona Energía has initiated construction works on its second wind farm in Texas, US, called Palmas Altas.

With a capacity of 144.9MW, Palmas Altas will be built with an investment of approximately €176m ($200m).

It will be equipped with 46 Nordex AW3150 wind turbines and will be the ninth wind farm project for the company in the US. Grid connection is planned for November next year.

Acciona Energy USA Global CEO Rafael Esteban said: “We are proud to be furthering our investment in the US, one of our main strategic markets where we remain alert to any opportunity offered by this promising sector.”

Located in Cameron County, Texas, the new facility will produce around 524GWh of clean energy per year, which is enough to power more than 43,000 households in the region.

"With a 25-year lifespan, the project is expected to offset 503,000 metric tons of carbon emissions, which is equivalent of taking more than 100,000 cars and trucks off the road."

During the peak construction period, the project is expected to employ approximately 170 people and will have a ten-person operations team stationed at the wind farm after completion.

With a 25-year lifespan, the project is expected to offset 503,000 metric tons of carbon emissions, which is equivalent of taking more than 100,000 cars and trucks off the road.

The clean energy generated by the wind farm will be sold in the ERCOT-South Texas wholesale market.

In April this year, Acciona Energía unveiled its plans to build Palmas Altas in Texas. Nordex’s AW3150 wind turbine has a rotor diameter of 125m that will be mounted on an 87.5m steel tower (hub height).

In addition to Palmas Altas, Acciona Energía has other wind power projects in its pipeline that will increase its operational capacity in the US.