Google buys into wind energy project

Technology giant and business icon Google, Inc., continued its embrace of wind power with the announcement that it has invested $200 million in EDF Renewable Energy’s Spinning Spur Wind Project in Oldham County, Tex.

The 161-MW facility, located about 35 miles from Amarillo, uses 70 2.3-MW Siemens turbines.

Google seems to be embracing wind power on all fronts. The innovative company has entered power purchase agreements—that is, contracts usually entered into by utilities—directly with wind farms to power some of its energy-hungry data centers. Google also is investing in the Atlantic Wind Connection, an ambitious offshore backbone transmission project that would run north-south off the East Coast to connect offshore wind projects to be built. Finally, the company has invested in wind power both because it believes in the energy source and it believes it makes for a sound investment.

Said Google in a blog post, “We look for projects like Spinning Spur because, in addition to creating more renewable energy and strengthening the local economy, they also make for smart investments: they offer attractive returns relative to the risks and allow us to invest in a broad range of assets.”
By Carl Levesque, http://www.awea.org/blog/