Oregon wind deal announced

The worldÔÇÖs largest wind farm is to be built in Oregon and provide enough power for 235,000 homes, it has been announced.  The $2 billion Shepherds Flat wind farm will be bigger than any wind farm in operation worldwide when it is completed in 2012. Fairfield, Connecticut-based GE, whose equipment generates one-third of the worldÔÇÖs electricity, has won the $1.4 billion contract to supply 338 of its 2.5 megawatt turbines to New York-based Caithness Energy LLC, which is building the farm. The turbines will be installed in 2011 and 2012, with GE also holding a 10-year service and maintenance contract. GE will build the turbines at its facility in Florida. The 2.5 megawatt turbine is GEÔÇÖs newest product and making its debut at Shepherds Flat. The wind farm will employ 400 workers during construction and 35 during operation. Shepherds Flat, which will cover 30 square miles across north-central Oregon in Gilliam and Morrow counties, will produce 845 megawatts of power. Currently the worldÔÇÖs largest operating wind farm is the 781-megawatt farm near Roscoe, Texas. An estimated 1.5 million tons a year in greenhouse gas emissions will be avoided as a result of the farm. Oregon, which ranks fifth among states with existing wind projects, has been pursuing renewable energy firms with a 50 per cent tax credit to offset capital costs. Although in Oregon, the Shepherds Flat farm will supply energy to California's Southern California Edison utility, which must secure 33 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2020. The contract win is the third-largest by value for GE's wind business, and represents the companyÔÇÖs strategy to diversify towards technologically advanced, high-margin infrastructure industries. The companyÔÇÖs wind unit has grown in revenue to more than $6 billion since it was acquired from Enron in 2002. The US wind energy sector has grown rapidly over the past two years, with more turbines being installed than in the whole history of the industry. *┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á *┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á *