By James Clark | This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

LUBBOCK, TX (KCBD) – A relatively new company to Lubbock makes wind power a bigger driver of the local economy.  A company called Zachry High Voltage bought out a local company and starting moving into the Reese Technology Center in April.

 

Right now the company is building a quick start generating station for another company called Golden Spread.  The facility near Abernathy will make wind power more versatile by having generators that can start on 15 minutes advance notice.

Michael Lake with Zachry High Voltage says, "That compares with some of your much larger facilities; that time could be anywhere from 3 hours to nine hours."

That's important for those moments when the when the wind dies down and wind power suddenly becomes unreliable.

Lake says there's another huge advantage to having San Antonio-based Zachry come to town.  They're not only building the quick start generation near Abernathy, they're also building the control room, and those are jobs that in the past would not have been based in Lubbock.

"In the past we would have procured it [the control room] from various suppliers," says Lake.  "We found that by building it locally, finishing it out, and moving it to the project, that time frame could be shortened.  And it works much better for the project."

Zachry employs 35 people in Lubbock with potential for even more employees as the wind industry grows.