GOOGLE’S $100 MIL FOR OREGON WIND

Google Invests $100M in (Another!) Wind Farm
Katie Fehrenbacher, April 18, 2011 (Earth2Tech via Reuters)

"Google…[now rivaling stand alone clean energy investors] has invested $100 million in the world’s largest wind farm, the 845 MW Shepherds Flat project under construction in Oregon. With this investment, Google has put more than $350 million…into clean power…

"[Google now owns a $168 million investment in BrightSource Energy’s solar thermal project, a $38.8 million investment in NextEra Energy Resources’ 169.5 MW wind projects…and a €3.5 million ($5 million USD) German solar photovoltaic farm]…Google’s subsidiary Google Energy — which can buy and sell electricity on the wholesale markets — plans to buy 114 MW of wind power from [a NextEra Energy Resources] Iowa wind farm…"

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"…[Google is] backing the world’s largest wind farm partly because the project will use next-gen wind tech, permanent magnet generators, which can improve the efficiency of turbines, and increase the reliability of the grid connection, and which aren’t readily used in currently installed large utility wind farms…Shepherds Flat will use GE’s 2.5xl wind turbines…[Expected to be fully operational in 2012, it will occupy 30 square miles of Oregon, and cost $2 billion]… Southern California Edison…has [contracted] to buy the wind power.

"…[C]o-investors in the farm’s most recent funding include a subsidiary of Japanese giant ITOCHU Corporation, Tyr Energy, and a subsidiary of Sumitomo Corp.: Sumitomo Corp. of America…[The companies] have put around $500 million into the farm. Previous investors and partners on the farm include GE unit GE Energy Financial Services and wind developer Caithness Energy."

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"Google launched...[a program in 2007 to make] renewable energy cheaper than coal…[by spending] tens of millions of dollars on R&D…[and building a gigawatt of New Energy]… Rick Needham, Google’s green business operations manager…[said] the North Dakota wind farms were an attractive deal for Google on the basis of the [approximately six cents a kilowatt hour] returns alone…

"Google Energy [may also eventually purchase the power]…Google’s Green Energy Czar Bill Weihl…[said] Google Energy is…about being able to procure energy, specifically clean energy, to power the search engine giant’s data centers…Google can enter into a power purchase agreement contract with…[a developer to] help the developer get a better interest rate for the financing of the plant…[and either use or sell the clean power on the open market…"