Two Wind Farms in Texas, Rattlesnake Wind Farm and the Heart of Texas Project, were purchased and built by Goldwind America’s, a subsidiary of Shanghai-based Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology — the largest Wind Turbine manufacturer in the world.
A 2016 report by the Houston Chronicle highlights large and invasive investments by China’s Solar Power companies, like Goldwind, that have seized control of many of Texas’ infrastructural investments.
Goldwind, the world’s largest wind turbine manufacturer, bought into Texas’ energy grid for the first time in 2016 with the acquisition of the Rattlesnake Wind Project, a project that would be the Chinese company’s largest wind farm in the United States. Goldwind told the Houston Chronicle that a planned second phase would double its size.
David Halligan, chief executive of Goldwind, told the Chronicle that, “This investment in the Rattlesnake Wind Project highlights our long-term commitment to the U.S. wind market and represents our first step of a five-year growth strategy to capitalize on the extension of the production tax credit.” (A Clinton-era policy to give federal subsidies to “green energy” projects at a rate of roughly 2 cents per kWh produced by the facility.)
Recharge News reports that the project was sold to Exus Management Partners, a company based out of Madrid, Spain, on November 11th, 2020.
A 2017 release by Goldwind notes that it has signed an agreement with Renewable Energy Systems Americas Inc. (RES) to acquire the 160-megawatt (MW) Heart of Texas Wind Project in McCulloch County, Texas.
While taking advantage of the Production Tax Credit, wind turbine manufacturing could potentially be a multi-million dollar windfall for foreign companies looking to invest in America’s energy grid, sponsored, of course, by the American taxpayer.
However, Texas is the only state in the union that actively pursues an independent power grid — a move that conservatives have cheered since the effort began, citing the strategic vulnerability of having the entire nation run on a single electrical grid. Over-reliance on one grid would leave us open to coordinated attacks by foreign powers, especially ones with geopolitical agenda’s hostile to America’s national security interests — like China.
Recent revelations, however, have brought long overdue focus on how the Electricity Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) operates and the entangling business deals that have allowed foreign actors to have influence over Texas’ energy grid.
The Austin-American Statesman reported on the fact that five of the 15 current members do not reside in Texas, including Talberg, who lives in Michigan, Cramton, who lives in California, Terry Bulger who lives in Illinois, and Raymond Hepper who lives in Maine. Board member Vanessa Anesetti-Parra, however, lives in Toronto, Canada.
Previous reports by National File demonstrate the severe threat to national security caused by Chinese purchases within Texas’ energy grid, including their threat to military bases and unfettered access to national threat assessments released by the federal government.
