Case Study: Green Machines - Texas Wind Farm Put Fabricator On Fast Track

Welcome the wind farm, the latest in the green energy movement that champions the use of clean, renewable resources. And some of the biggest wind farms are showing up right in the heart of oil country.

One such wind farm, owned and operated jointly by Shell WindEnergy, Inc., and Padoma Wind Power, rises from a mesa near Fluvanna, Texas. There, 160 towers lift three-bladed pinwheels more than 232 feet skyward, where they can harness the seemingly ever-present wind and convert it into electrical power for more than 30,000 area homes.

The wind farm went online as 2003 drew to a close, beating an end-of-year deadline that allowed it to qualify for "green" energy production tax credits. But that deadline sent Bergen Southwest Steel, an El Paso, Texas, fabricator with shop-painting capabilities, on a torrid pace, fabricating and finishing the towers that hold the turbines and blades in place. Interestingly, the towers required a "green" — environmentally speaking — Sherwin-Williams coating system as well.

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