California's 2nd Chance – Giant 3 GW Wind Farm Gets $1.2 Billion

July 23rd, 2010 by Susan Kraemer

Terra-Gen Power has just received the financing needed to build the next four wind farms in the largest wind energy project on US soil. The company can now build another 570 MW of the gigantic 3,000 MW Alta Wind Energy Center, in the same energy-rich Tehachapi region of California where former Governor Jerry Brown jump-started the US wind industry back in the early ’80s with 55% tax credits. Back then, because of those policies, California led the nation in wind and solar.

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Since those far-sighted and visionary days (Governor Brown was called Governor Moonbeam for crazy ideas like that) California has long since ceded its wind energy leadership to Texas.

But California’s next Governor could be the same man who started the US wind industry, that 30 years later has led to this wind farm in California, along with energy-efficient fridges, energy-efficient windows, 55% solar tax credits and California’s Title 24 energy-efficiency building standards that has kept Californian carbon footprints down to European levels ever since.

That same former Governor, Jerry Brown, now California’s Attorney General, is running for Governor, again. California is getting a second chance. In the same way, with this project built, California will once again have the largest wind energy project in America, overtaking the largest wind farm in Texas. A second chance at wind power leadership.

Southern California Edison has already signed a long-term power purchase agreement to buy power from the farm. The 3,000-megawatt Alta Wind Energy Center when completed would actually be a series of several massive wind farms about 116 miles north of Los Angeles. The first 150 MW phase, Alta Project I, already broke ground in March with financing of $394 million.

The $1.2 billion in financing from Citi, Barclays, and Credit Suisse will fund the next four wind farms comprising 570 MW of the 3,000 MW project. This may be the first wind project to be financed as a lease back from the bank. Citibank will purchase Alta Projects II through V once they’re in operation, and lease them back to Terra-Gen, who will operate and maintain the facilities. The first phase used GE turbines. The subsequent ones will come from Vestas.

Unlike most wind developers, Terra-Gen Power develops not only wind, but solar, and even geothermal projects.

Since former Governor Jerry Brown is on the ballot for Governor again this November (against Meg Whitman), this California wind milestone could coincide with a second term of clean energy-friendly policy, if California voters are smart.

There is a clear choice between the candidates on renewable energy.

Susan Kraemer @Twitter

Image: JerryBrown

Source: Green Tech

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Tags: 3 GW, Alta Wind Energy Center, Barclays, billion, California, Citi, Credit Suisse, financing, Giant, Jerry Brown, largest, oldest, Terra-Gen Power

About the Author

Susan Kraemer writes at CleanTechnica, CSP-Today, PV-Insider , SmartGridUpdate, and GreenProphet. She has also been published at Ecoseed, NRDC OnEarth, MatterNetwork, Celsius, EnergyNow, and Scientific American. As a former serial entrepreneur in product design, Susan brings an innovator's perspective on inventing a carbon-constrained civilization: If necessity is the mother of invention, solving climate change is the mother of all necessities! As a lover of history and sci-fi, she enjoys chronicling the strange future we are creating in these interesting times. Follow Susan on Twitter @dotcommodity.

http://www.CalSolarEng.com California Solar Engineering

This is great- We need to keep investing in all of the renewable energy possible.
whatever

Water and energy. Unending income streams.

http://exiledonline.com/water-wars-billionaire-thugs-scheme-to-pull-off-katrina-style-wealth-transfer-that-could-destroy-california/
Bill Woods

To be clear, this is $1.2 billion for 570 MW, not 3000.

“NEW YORK, NY – Terra-Gen Power, LLC (“Terra-Gen”) announced today that it has closed a $1.2 billion financing for four wind power projects with a total of 570 megawatts (MW) of capacity at its Alta Wind Energy Center in Kern County, California. The four projects, known as Alta Projects II-V, will use 190 V90-3.0 MW turbines manufactured by Vestas-American Wind Technology, Inc. (“Vestas”).”

http://www.terra-genpower.com/News.aspx
- http://cleantechnica.com/author/susan Susan Kraemer
  
  Yep. Just scrapping along, poco a poco. But it seems to be working. They are getting these projects built.