The Blown Star State

Texas planning massive wind-energy project off Galveston coast

Texas has proposed what could become the nation's first offshore wind farm, about seven miles off the coast of Galveston Island in the Gulf of Mexico. The massive project would involve construction of around 50 wind turbines over some five years and would be expected to generate 150 megawatts of electricity, enough to power about 40,000 homes. Herman Schellstede, president of Wind Energy Systems Technologies, the company developing the project, thinks the region's energy history lends itself to wind power. "Are Texas and Louisiana in the energy business or the oil business?" asks Schellstede. "If we're in the oil business, we're all going to go out of business eventually, but if we're in the energy business, these wind turbines will operate forever and furnish viable sources of energy." The Texas legislature has set a goal of developing 10,000 megawatts of clean-energy capacity by 2025.