Several offshore wind power projects are already in the pipeline, but the General Land Office commissioner Jerry Patterson said he believed the Texan bid could be implemented faster as the proposed facility, near Galveston Island, is within state waters, streamlining the approval process.
The Wind Energy Systems Technologies (WEST) subsidiary Galveston-Offshore Wind has received immediate approval for the construction of two meteorological towers that will collect data that will help optimise placement of the proposed 150MW offshore wind-farm.
Texas has granted Galveston-Offshore Wind a lease for just under 45 square kilometres of developable area in the Gulf of Mexico in a multi-million dollar agreement
Construction is expected to be completed within five years at a cost of about $300 million. WEST plans to construct about 50 wind turbines, expected to produce 150MW of electricity, or enough to power about 40,000 homes.
WEST president Herman Schellstede and Patterson held a joint news conference promoting the beginning of a new direction for the US energy industry.
"Ask yourself this simple question: Are Texas and Louisiana in the energy business or the oil business?" Schellstede said.
"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."
Patterson was equally enthusiastic.
"Today marks a new era for energy development in America, and what better place to begin than Texas," he said
"Texas knows energy, and we're ready to lead the nation toward establishing clean, reliable coastal wind power as an energy reality."
