Ørsted completed a 130-wind turbine project in North Texas claimed by the Danish energy company to be the largest onshore wind project to date

The project—the 367 MW Western Trail Wind Farm located in Wilbarger and Baylor counties, Texas—brings Ørsted’s total onshore capacity to over 2.8 GW of wind, solar and battery storage in operation.

“Western Trail Wind is a well-sited greenfield development project that will provide low-cost, reliable power to the Texas grid,” commented Philip Moore, senior vice president of Ørsted Onshore, in a company release on Aug. 4.

Ørsted has secured long-term power purchase agreements for Western Trail Wind with PepsiCo, Hormel Foods and Nucor for the majority of the power generated from the project. Both PepsiCo and Hormel Foods will also purchase power from the Haystack Wind project in SPP, due online later this year.

The project is also located on the Waggoner Ranch, a historic North Texas ranch established in 1849 and currently owned by billionaire businessman Stan Kroenke.

“The Waggoner Ranch has a rich history for developing energy resources,” said Daniel Zyvoloski, who serves as land manager for Kroenke Ranches, in the company release. “We’re excited to partner with Ørsted on the Western Trail Wind Farm to make renewable energy a part of our ranching operation.”

Western Trail will also provide long-term financial returns in the form of increased property tax to the Wilbarger and Baylor counties and three independent school districts in North Texas.  

Ørsted delivered Western Trail Wind working with long-standing relationships with leading tax equity providers, equipment suppliers and construction companies. All were instrumental to the smooth completion of the project, according to the release.

“I’m very proud of our team working on this project as we continue to scale the business and play a leading role in the U.S. energy transition,” Moore added in the release.

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