Pattern expands wind-farm portfolio
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The Pattern Energy Group has acquired Gulf Wind, a 283MW wind farm near Texas on the Gulf Coast, from Babcock and Brown.
Pattern was formed as an independent company eight months ago and now has nearly 400MW of wind projects in operation or under construction across North America.
At the Gulf Wind site, radar technology has been used to protect the area’s migratory birds. Pattern’s team of scientists, while under previous employment with Babcock and Brown, led the development and deployment of the Merlin Avian Radar System with a SCADA wind-farm control system for real-time bird-mortality risk mitigation.
The early-warning radar system is programmed to respond to a variety of risk conditions in real-time, activating mitigation measures that include operator alerts, turbine idling and activation of deterrent devices that can be both bioacoustic and laser based.
The Gulf Wind project has been operational for approximately one year and is located on a portion of the Kenedy Ranch — owned by the Kenedy Memorial Foundation — near the town of Sarita, Texas.
According to the terms of the transaction, Pattern will make quarterly royalty payments to the Kenedy Memorial Foundation, which will allow the foundation to increase its charitable work in South Texas.
