North American Windpower: Google-Backed 845 MW Shepherds Flat Wind Farm Now Online

Google-Backed 845 MW Shepherds Flat Wind Farm Now Online

by NAW Staff on Monday 24 September 2012

The Shepherds Flat Wind Farm - one of the world's largest wind projects - is now operational and generating up to 845 MW of wind energy, developer Caithness Energy has announced.

Located in northeastern Oregon near the town of Arlington, the project has 20-year power purchase agreements in place with Southern California Edison.

The project, which uses 338 of GE Energy's 2.5xl wind turbines, received a $1.3 billion partial loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy in 2010. Google, ITOCHU Corp. subsidiary Tyr Energy, and Sumitomo Corp. subsidiary Sumitomo Corp. of America invested approximately $500 million in the project.

The project employed over 400 workers during its construction and will permanently employ 45 workers.

"The opening of Caithness Shepherds Flat, one of the world's largest wind farms, demonstrates that we can deploy renewable energy at scale with the help of private capital," says Rick Needham, director of energy and sustainability at Google. "We're proud to have supported this project, and we hope our involvement - and that of our partners - attracts more investors to this sector."

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