Spanish firm Acciona Energia has commenced construction work on its second wind farm in Texas. 



The Palmas Altas facility will have a capacity of 144.9 megawatts and will use 46 wind turbines.  It will be located in Cameron County.  Investment in the project amounts to roughly 176 million euros ($198.84 million). 



In a statement Thursday, Rafael Esteban, the CEO of Acciona Energy USA Global, described the U.S. as being one of the company's "main strategic markets." 



When fully up and running, the Palmas Altas wind farm will generate roughly 524 gigawatt hours of energy annually, which is equivalent to the consumption of 43,000 U.S. homes.  This will "offset the emission of 503,000 metric tons of CO2 (carbon dioxide)," according to Acciona. 

The U.S. is home to "one of the largest and fastest-growing wind markets in the world," according to the U.S. Department of Energy.  Texas itself supports more than 24,000 wind related jobs, according to the American Wind Energy Association.