Google ups renewable portfolio with $200M on wind
updated 05:53 pm EST, Sun January 13, 2013
Google buys $200M stake in west Texas wind farm
Adding to the search giant's existing renewable energy portfolio, Google last week announced a $200 million investment in a wind farm in west Texas. Google's nearly quarter-billion dollar investment in the Spinning Spur Wind Project is the company's eleventh green energy investment since 2010. It is also one of Google's larger renewable energy investments, second only to the $280 million the company pumped into SolarCity, a solar systems company.
Spinning Spur, located in Oldham County, Texas, generates 161 megawatts of energy, enough to power more than 60,000 homes. The project has 70 2.3MW Siemens turbines, which began spinning full-time just before the end of the year. Their energy is contracted to SPS, a utility serving Texas and New Mexico.
Google announced the investment in a blog post on January 9, noting that such investments "offer attractive returns relative to the risks and allow us to invest in a broad range of assets."
The Spinning Spur investment brings the total power generation of Google's investment to 2 gigawatts of power. The company has also invested in the Shepherds Flat wind farm, the Atlantic Wind Connection, Recurrent Energy's 88MW solar installation in California, and the Rippey project's 50MW wind farm near Des Moines, Iowa. [image via Amarillo Globe-News]
