Terra-Gen Power raises $1.2 billion for California’s largest wind-energy project to date

The State of California is embarking on its largest wind-energy project ever. In a partnership with private firm Terra-Gen Power, which raised $1.2 billion in funds, construction on the second of five wind farms is slated to begin immediately. The farms—which will be part of the Alta Wind Energy Center—will be located in Kern County, an area the size of New Jersey in the state’s southern Central Valley that includes portions of the Mohave Desert, San Joaquin Valley and Sierra Nevada mountain range. This is an ideal local, as the county possesses one of the United State’s most proven wind resources.

When completed, the five wind farms will increase California’s installed wind capacity by more than 25 percent, generating 720 megawatts of power and producing enough electricity to sustain 200,000 households. The project is also expected to create more than 1,500 jobs and inject an estimated $600 million into the local economy. Operations are projected to go live by the second quarter of 2011.

Full story at EcoSeed.