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FIRST LARGE-SCALE MERCHANT WIND POWER PROJECT COMMENCES CONSTRUCTION IN CALIFORNIA
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, May 27, 1999
TEHACHAPI, Calif. - Enron Wind Corp., a subsidiary of Enron Corp., announced today that it has begun construction of Green Power I, the company’s latest California wind power project. The 22-turbine, 16.5-megawatt project is the first major new renewable power plant since California opened its markets to competition and is being built solely to supply emerging green power markets.
“The Green Power I project is a new model for renewable energy development in California,” said Ken Karas, chairman and CEO of Enron Wind Corp. “We think that as the idea of customer choice for power becomes more familiar, many more households will choose green power. More businesses will be attracted to it, as well, as a way to keep up with their customers and to actualize their environmental commitments.”
Ground was broken for the plant in March 1999, eight miles east of Palm Springs, Calif. Scheduled to be completed in June, Green Power I will supply enough clean electricity for 5,000 typical California households. The power will be sold through retail marketers to residential, commercial and industrial customers, including Patagonia, Inc., the Ventura-based outdoor clothing company.
“We believe energy efficiency and clean power can create a competitive advantage for us,” said David Olsen, Patagonia’s chief executive officer. “With the environmental costs of non-renewable energy sources becoming less supportable every year, we’re pleased to work with Enron to jump-start a market among corporations for new renewable generation.”
The zero-emission Green Power I wind farm will offset 77 million pounds of global warming gases (carbon dioxide), 400,000 pounds of acid rain emissions (sulfur dioxide), and 260,000 pounds of smog emissions (nitrogen oxides), in addition to various toxic metals like mercury. The smog emissions avoided are the equivalent of taking 10,000 cars off the roads of Southern California.
The Green Power I wind power facility is being developed and constructed and will be operated by Enron Wind Corp. The project will utilize advanced Zond Z-750kW Series wind turbines built by Zond Energy Systems of Tehachapi, Calif. With 48- and 50-meter rotor diameters, approximately the size of the wingspan of a MD-11 jumbo jet, the Z-750kW wind turbines are the largest manufactured in the United States.
Enron Wind Corp. is a pioneer and world leader in the power generation market and a fully integrated wind power company. The company provides power plant design and engineering, project development, financing, and operations and maintenance services, and designs and manufactures state-of-the-art wind turbines in California and Germany ranging in size from 550 kilowatts to 1.5 megawatts. The company has developed and/or sold more than 3,600 wind turbines worldwide, comprising more than 800 megawatts of green capacity. Enron Wind Corp’s Internet address is www.wind.enron.com
Enron is one of the world’s leading integrated electricity and natural gas companies. It owns approximately $30 billion in energy related assets, produces electricity and natural gas, develops, constructs and operates energy facilities worldwide and delivers physical commodities and risk management and financial services to customers around the world. Enron’s Internet address is /corp. Its stock is traded on the NYSE under the ticker symbol, “ENE.”
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For additional information please contact:
Karen Denne
(713) 853-9757
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