Google and subsidiaries of two Japanese conglomerates are joining original planners Caithness Energy and G.E. as owners in what could be the world's largest land-based wind farm.

A release in GE Energy Financial Services' Web site states that Google, Sumitomo Corporation of America and Tyr Energy, the last two being subsidiaries of Sumitomo Corporation and Itochu Corporation, respectively, are investing in the Shepherds Flat wind project being built in Arlington, Oregon.

In its own company blog, Google said it will invest $100 million in Shepherds Flat. Sumitomo Corporation of America and Tyr Energy did not disclose amounts. But together, Google and the two Japanese company subsidiaries will invest $500 million in Shepherds Flat.

Shepherds Flat, will have a capacity of 845 megawatts and will take about $2 billion to build. Shepherds Flat will comprise a 265-MW wind turbine array and two 290-MW wind farm sections. What's different is that its 338 wind turbine units will be 2.5-MW direct-drive turbines from G.E. About 167 miles of transmission lines and 95 miles of roads will connect the wind farms to their service areas.

Shepherds Flat is due for completion in 2012. It is seen generating electricity for 235,000 homes, in the process saving about 1.5 million tons of carbon dioxide a year, equivalent to emission from about 260,000 vehicles. "We are drawing on our ability to attract more private capital to the United State's wind market by adding partners," said Alex Urquhart, president and chief executive of G.E. Energy Financial Services.

Google, which has been in a renewable energy investment spree for the past weeks, said they went into Shepherds Flat not only for its size and scale. Shepherds Flat will be the first large-scale wind farm to use direct-drive turbines, according to Rick Needham, Googles director of green business operations. Direct-drive turbines do not have the typical gear box design housed in its nacelles. Instead, it uses permanent magnets that move as the blades do, and so does not make use of shafts that connect the blade to the generator. Google said the technology promises to improve the efficiency and reliability of wind turbines. The supply contract for the turbines alone is pegged at $1.4 billion, based on a 2009 G.E. figure.

Southern California Edison has signed 20-year power purchase agreements to buy electricity generated by each of the wind farm's three sections. California has mandated utilities to generate 33 percent of their energy from renewable sources by 2020.

Wind investments

Google has been involved in financing alternative energy projects recently, including $5 million in a solar photovoltaic power plant near Berlin and $168 million for BrightSource's 392-MW Ivanpah solar thermal power plant, the largest of its kind in the world. "We remain on the lookout for more projects that make business sense and will help all of us take advantage of clean, renewable energy," Mr. Needham said.

The Japanese conglomerates, meanwhile, have also dabbled in a number of wind farms with G.E. in different parts of the globe. Sumitomo jointly owns the 120-MW in Stanton Wind Farm in Martin County, Texas with G.E. It also owns wind farms in Japan and China. Itochu invested with G.E. on the 52-MW Keenan II wind farm being built in Oklahoma.

Wind comprises more than 80 percent of GE Energy Financial Services' renewable energy portfolio. The portfolio includes equity investments in 58 wind farms with a total capacity to produce 6.1 gigawatts of electricity, and loans to 38 wind farms.

Source: Apec-vc