Blown Away.

FOR THE 12,000 TOUGH RESIDENTS OF PICO Truncado, Argentina, there's nothing romantic about living on the barren plains of Patagonia. With wind speeds averaging 40 kilometers an hour--and reaching as much as 250 kilometers per hour--every day is a bad hair day.

Life inside a 24-hour twister does have some advantages though. Earlier this year, Pico Truncado inaugurated two state-of-the-art windmills, expected to supply almost half its energy needs. Germany's government and its leading windmill manufacturer, Enercon, are funding the US$1.5 million investment.

But Enercon isn't the only international investor hoping to be blown away by the world famous winds in Argentina's six southernmost provinces. In June, Spanish firm Gamesa Eolica will complete installation of 16 turbines of 700 kilowatts each in Comodoro Rivadavia, the largest city in the Patagonia region. And work is slated to soon begin on the first, $235 million phase of an ambitious venture to add 3,000 megawatts of wind energy--generating capacity-equivalent to 21% of regional energy consumption last year-to southern Arentian in the next decade. Coordinating the mega-project is Energias Argentinas, an equal partnership between Spanish energy companies Endesa and Elecnor.

"Patagonia could be the Kuwait of the wind energy world," says Fernando Petrucci, Enercon's local representative.