The developers of a 3.6 gigawatt (GW) onshore wind farm in New Mexico say the mammoth project is now fully operational and capable of generating and delivering more power than the iconic Hoover Dam hydroelectric project.
US renewable energy developer Pattern Energy announced the milestone for SunZia wind farm last week, the largest clean energy infrastructure project in US history, harnessing New Mexico’s abundant and constant winds.
The project is made up of 916 3.5 megawatt (MW) wind turbines stretching across over 500,000 acres of land and connected to the grid in Arizona by a 550 mile (885 km) high-voltage DC (HVDC) transmission line, where the electricity is subsequently fed to states in the region, including California.
Construction of the project began back in 2023 following almost two decades of permitting and planning and now spans three counties in New Mexico. Now that it is complete, it can deliver enough electricity to power approximately one million homes.
Image Credit: Vestas, via LinkedIn
