The Los Vientos III and IV Wind projects are located in Starr County, Texas, which involved construction of two transmission lines (one existing and one new) to connect wind generation to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas ("ERCOT") electrical grid. Both projects are interconnected at ETT's Del Sol substation (near Rio Grande City, Texas), a new ETT substation constructed as a result of ETT's Rio Grande Valley ("RGV") projects.
The Los Vientos III wind project involved expansion of the Del Sol station and construction of a 6-mile circuit on ETT's existing 345kV double circuit capable Del Sol to North Edinburg transmission line to interconnect a 200MW wind farm to the generator's MigHoward collector station. The station portion of this project was placed into service in May 2016 when ETT's Del Sol substation was energized. The Los Vientos III permanent interconnection portion was placed in-service on February 17, 2017.
The Los Vientos IV wind project involved construction of a new 10-mile double circuit capable 345kV transmission line from the Del Sol station to interconnect a 200MW wind farm to the generator's JackieHoward collector station. In addition, improvements were also made at the Del Sol station to accommodate the wind farm interconnection and other advanced technology (series capacitors) on ETT's Lobo to Rio Bravo to North Edinburg 345-kV transmission line. On October 21, 2014, ETT filed an application to amend its Certificate of Convenience and Necessity ("CCN") at the Public Utility Commission of Texas ("PUCT") to construct the new Del Sol to JackieHoward 345kV transmission line. With no landowner opposition to the project, the PUCT approved the CCN on January 9, 2015.
