SoCal Edison Signs Contract for Wind Power
With SoCal Edison the hits just keep coming, as the utility has signed a new contract to receive up to 909 megawatts of wind power from DCE, an affiliate of Caithness Energy.
To be built between 2011 and 2012, the Caithness Shepherd’s Flat project in North-Central Oregon will involved 303 wind turbines across 30 square miles. This will make it one of the world’s largest fully permitted wind farms, but it won’t require any additional or upgraded transmission lines, speeding the time frame for operation.
The project is expected to generate 2 billion kilowatt-hours per year of renewable energy - more than 10% of SCE’s total renewable energy portfolio.
- » See also: Would You Buy Your Groceries Here?
- » Get EcoLocalizer by RSS or sign up by email.
Currently, SCE buys about 12.5 billion kilowatt-hours of renewable energy (as of 2007), representing about 16% of the utility’s total portfolio, which breaks down like this:
- Geothermal: 7.71 billion kWh (62 %)
- Wind: 2.58 billion kWh (21%)
- Solar: 667 million kWh (5%)
- Biogas: 580 million kWh (5%)
- Small hydro: 557 million kWh (4%)
- Biomass: 336 million kWh (3%)
SCE’s renewable energy will grow to at least 20% of its portfolio, based solely on the amount that is currently in the works. That’s significant, considering that SCE serves 13 million people in the state of California.
Photo credit: smacnhawaii on Flickr under a Creative Commons license
