Beneficiaries of the land being leased are public schools, UNM, NMSU, the New Mexico Military Institute and the NM Behavioral Health Institute.

By Ritesh Gupta

The project is to be located on about 19,000 acres of State Trust Land and 31,000 acres of private land 35 miles west of Clayton in Union County.

Triangle Gallegos, a joint venture between Triangle Cattle and Gallegos Wind Farm, won the bid and agreed to lease payment terms that are estimated to generate $47m of revenue for State Trust Land beneficiaries over the 45-year project life.

Beneficiaries of the land being leased are public schools, UNM, NMSU, the New Mexico Military Institute and the NM Behavioral Health Institute.

The overall proposed project ultimately could generate about 500 megawatts of electricity via 285 wind turbines -- enough electricity to supply up to 200,000 homes. The development would reduce CO2 emissions by 1.3 million tons and save over 550 million gallons of water annually compared to coal driven electricity. The project would be built in two phases starting in 2015, creating 400 total construction jobs and about 20 new permanent jobs.

“A new and growing source of income for the State Land Office is renewable energy leasing, which has become the largest growth area for our Commercial Resources Division. And, as a result of my administration’s commitment to advancing renewable energy, the State Land Office now hosts the largest distributive and commercial solar arrays in the state and soon State Trust lands will host the largest wind farm,” said New Mexico State Land Commissioner Ray Powell.

"This new project will build upon this success. With the wind and solar projects in the pipeline, the Land Office will generate hundreds of millions of dollars in future years for support of our public schools, universities and hospitals throughout the state.

Transmission service will be provided by Lucky Corridor.