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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Pickens drops wind farm plan


By JOHN PORRETTO
Associated Press

HOUSTON — Plans for the world's largest wind farm in the Texas panhandle have been scrapped, energy baron T. Boone Pickens said yesterday, and he's looking for a home for 687 giant wind turbines.

Pickens has already ordered the turbines, which can stand 400 feet tall — taller than most 30-story buildings.

"When I start receiving those turbines, I've got to ... like I said, my garage won't hold them," the legendary Texas oilman said. "They've got to go someplace."

Pickens' company Mesa Power ordered the turbines from General Electric Co. — a $2 billion investment — a little more than a year ago. Pickens said he has leases on about 200,000 acres in Texas that were planned for the project, and he might place some of the turbines there, but he's also looking for smaller wind projects to participate in.

Wind power is a big part of the "Pickens Plan," which was announced a year ago today. Pickens has spent $60 million crisscrossing the country and buying advertising in an effort to reduce the nation's reliance on foreign oil.

"It doesn't mean that wind is dead," said Pickens, who runs the Dallas-based energy investment fund BP Capital. "It just means we got a little bit too quick off the blocks."

Pickens announced in 2007 plans to install the turbines in parts of four Texas panhandle counties.