NACEL Energy Corporation has signed a long-term wind development rights agreement covering 2082 acres of land for its Blue Creek wind energy project in Texas.

The area is approximately 25 percent larger than previously anticipated by the company. The project is located in Moore County, in the Texas Panhandle.

Collection of site specific wind data has commenced at Blue Creek with the installation of a 60 meter (200 ft.) NRG meteorological tower transmitting data to NACEL Energy, via an Iridium satellite uplink.

While the data is collected, additional important development milestones including, without limitation, interconnection engineering, turbine engineering and obtaining turbine debt financing, must be completed by NACEL Energy.

Accordingly, the company cautions that project completion at Blue Creek is not expected until at least 2010.

The company's CEO Brian Lavery said the collection of site specific wind data, which will enable future project engineering, are important milestones in the company's pursuit of its corporate objective of 1000MW of wind power under development by 2010.  

The company acknowledged that the larger land parcel secured for wind power development means NACEL Energy's Blue Creek project may have greater generating potential than first determined by the company. Its own analysis indicates that the construction of a series of 10 MW phases is optimal and that 30 MW or more of generating capacity at Blue Creek may be achievable at project build out.

According to the Texas State Energy Conservation Office (SECO), the Panhandle contains the State's "greatest expanse of high quality winds."

SECO's research indicates that while Class 4 wind locations such as Blue Creek comprise just 4.38 percent of the land area of Texas, these lands, in their aggregate, could supply 100 percent of the State's (1995) electric power consumption.