Xcel nabs key approval for 1.2GW Southwest US wind expansion

Texas regulators have approved utility Xcel Energy’s plan to add 1,230MW of wind capacity in the US Southwest – with Vestas set to supply at least 1GW of the turbines over the next two years.

Xcel, a large Minnesota-based utility group with subsidiaries running from the Midwest down through the Southwest, filed proposals earlier this year with regulators in Texas and New Mexico to build 1GW of new wind capacity in the states and buy another 230MW of output from developer NextEra Energy Resources.