OFFICIALS TO BREAK GROUND ON PANTEX WIND FARM TODAY

Construction on an 11.5-megawatt wind farm at the Pantex Plant will begin on Monday, but officials at the weapons production and dismantlement site will celebrate the project’s groundbreaking with a ceremony today. Officials from the National Nuclear Security Administration, Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency and construction contractor Siemens Government Technologies are expected to gather at the plant today for the ceremonial start of the project, which is eventually expected to generate about 47 million kilowatts of electricity a year and provide the plant savings of about $2.8 million annually over the 20-year contract. The five 2.3-megawatt turbines that will be built are expected to generate about 60 percent of Pantex’s annual electricity needs, with Siemens recouping its investment through savings produced by the wind farm. Construction will formally begin Monday when project officials begin surveying the site, and it is expected to be completed in June of 2014.