Google is reporting on its blog that the company has made its first direct investment in a utility-scale renewable energy project. The company has made a $38.3 million investment in two wind farms developed by NextEra Energy Resources.
The wind farms, which together generate about 169 MW, are located in North Dakota and use existing transmission capacity to deliver clean energy to the region.
‘Smart capital includes not only these early-stage company investments, but also dedicated funding for utility-scale projects,’ says Rick Needham, Google's green business operations manager. ‘To tackle this need, we've been looking at investments in renewable energy projects, like the one we just signed, that can accelerate the deployment of the latest clean energy technology while providing attractive returns to Google and more capital for developers to build additional projects.’
The project uses the latest wind turbine technology and control systems, according to Google. The turbines can continuously adjust the individual blade pitch angles to achieve optimal efficiency and use larger blades with 15% more swept area than earlier generations, allowing capture of even more wind energy for each turbine.
The control systems for these wind farms are also advanced, allowing for 24/7 remote monitoring and operation to ensure maximum turbine uptime and power production, Google says.
SOURCE: Google
