Gulf Wind Farm

Gulf Wind is a 271 megawatt wind farm located on the Texas Gulf Coast in Kenedy County. It is operated by Pattern Energy which is based in San Francisco. The wind farm’s output is contracted under a 20-year power purchase agreement with Austin Energy.

History
Gulf Wind first generated electricity for the Texas power grid in November 2008, with all turbines expected operational by September 2010. Gulf Wind's former owner Babcock & Brown sold the development rights to Pattern Energy in 2009.

In 2021 Pattern Energy replaced its Mitsubishi 2.4 MW turbines with Siemens Gamesa SWT-2.3-108 turbines. This changed total output from 283.3 to 271.4 MW.

Hurricane Harvey
Gulf Wind farm was operational during most of Hurricane Harvey's landfall in Texas in August 2017, with turbines only shutting down when winds reach 55 mph, and returning to normal operation the next day.