California Begins Construction on Largest Wind Farm
Ground has been broken on the largest wind farm in the United States. The farm, capable of 570 MW in the first phase of construction or enough to power about 600,000 homes, is a project of the Terra-Gen Power LLC and will be called the Alta Wind Energy Center.
With a $1.2 Billion price tag, the farm will consist of five separate segments. Financing was just secured recently, kicking construction into gear. Just 75 miles north of Los Angeles, the project will be built in the Mojave desert.
The first phase of the project will be complete in 2011. Upon completion, the project will meet 10% of California’s mandated renewable energy needs. More impressively, when complete, the farm will prevent 5.8 Billion pounds of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere each year.
