E.ON Climate & Renewables, a leader in the booming wind energy industry, officially opened the first two phases of its Roscoe wind farm in a special dedication ceremony held on Monday. The wind farm currently generates over 330 megawatts (MW) of electricity, enough to power roughly 100,000 homes. But once the four-phase project is completed by mid-2009, the wind farm will become the world's largest, surpassing even the current record holder- FPL Energy's Horse Hollow wind farm in Taylor and Nolan counties.

"You're definitely going to see more of this in the future," said Declan Flanagan, CEO of E.ON Climate and Renewables North America, "Texas is ideal. There is land for development, not to mention the wind. It's certainly windy in Texas."

After completion, Roscoe's wind farm will have an estimated 627 wind turbines and a total capacity of 781.5 MW, or enough electricity to power over 260,000 homes.

But despite possible future setbacks for the wind energy industry, including a production tax credit set to expire on Dec. 31, Patrick Woodson, Chief Development Officer for the U.S. operations of E.ON, doesn't see anything standing in the way of E.ON's Roscoe wind farm.

"The tax credit is a major focus when it comes to many developments. But we remain confident that Congress will do the right thing and extend that tax credit, as it certainly helps many wind farm companies grow and expand. But if they don't, regardless of tax credits or not, we are certainly eager to continue our own development in this area, particularly Nolan County."

Nolan County Judge Tim Fambrough was on hand during the dedication to offer a brief word of thanks and welcome to the attendees.

"Nolan County has certainly seen a great benefit directly related to the growth of wind energy. Our economy is doing much better than it was several years ago. There are more businesses looking to open up than in previous years and there are a lot more jobs available for our citizens. We thank companies like E.ON for choosing Nolan County."

The Roscoe wind farm is one of six that E.ON Climate & Renewables operates in the US, five of which are in Texas. The company has ambitious plans to expand its renewable capacity around the world at an increasing pace over the next few years.

In a recent press release, E.ON CEO Wulf Bernotat stated, "E.ON has made great strides in expanding renewable energy generation. We will invest 6 billion (euro) through to 2010 alone. Our aim is to reach a capacity of at least 10,000 MW by 2015, which excludes our hydroelectric power capacity.

North America is one of the most attractive markets for renewable energy in the world and as a result the US will remain our largest single market in the future. E.ON Climate & Renewables projects in North America and Europe will play a major role in E.ON reaching its target of cutting specific CO2 emissions by at least 50% by 2030."

E.ON Climate & Renewables currently operates wind farms in the United States with an installed power of 727 MW. Projects include: Roscoe Phase 1- 209 MW- Roscoe; Panther Creek- 142.5 MW- Big Spring; Roscoe Phase 2-126.5 MW- Roscoe; Forest Creek- 124.2 MW- Big Spring; Sand Bluff- 90 MW- Big Spring; Munnsville- 34.5 MW- Munnsville, New York.

E.ON Climate & Renewables is responsible for activities of the E.ON group in renewable energy sources and environmental protection around the world. For more information, see www.eon.com.