E.ON wraps up 457 MW wind farm, transfers assets

German powerhouse E.ON said today it has completed its Panther Creek wind farm in Big Spring, Texas, marking the company’s continued expansion of its renewables presence in the United States.

The three-phase project has 305 turbines, manufactured by General Electric, with an installed capacity of 457.5 megawatts, making it one of the 10 largest U.S. wind farms.

As of the first quarter of 2009, the first two phases of the wind farm began operating. With the third phase now completed, the facility is expected to supply power to 135,000 Texan homes.

Duesseldorf-based E.ON, one of the largest power companies in Germany, has 1.4 gigawatts of installed capacity in North America, building the world’s largest 780 MW wind farm at Roscoe, Texas, and the constructing the 53 MW Stony Creek wind farm in Pennsylvania.

Yesterday, E.ON also announced 13 of its hydropower plants, located on the River Inn—which runs through Switzerland, Austria and Germany—are being transferred to Austrian utility Verbund. In exchange for the plants, E.ON said it received a cash settlement and electricity drawing rights from Austrian hydro-storage plant Zemm-Ziller.

E.ON currently has more than 2.4 GW of installed capacity from renewables including wind, biomass, biogas and solar photovoltaics (see E.ON to build big biomass plant in U.K. and Masdar joins E.ON, DONG for world's largest wind farm). By 2010, E.ON plans to have around 4 GW of installed capacity.