Google Invests $55 Million in Yet Another Wind Farm

Google is continuing its investment in green energy projects. Lately, it's been pouring quite a lot of money into renewable energy sources, wind farms in particular, and now it's revealing yet another such investment. The company, through its Green Business Operations arm, is providing $55 million for the construction of a large wind farm project in the Mojave Desert.

"The Mojave Desert might be best known for its scorching sun and scary sidewinders, but the wind blows hard where the Mojave sands meet the Tehachapi Mountains in southern California," Rick Needham, the Director of Green Business Operations, wrote.

"It’s the site of the Alta Wind Energy Center (AWEC), which will generate 1,550 megawatts (MW) of energy when complete, making it one of the largest sites in the country for wind energy generation—enough to power 450,000 homes," he added.

"Renewable energy developer Terra-Gen Power is constructing the site in several phases and we’ll provide $55 million to finance the 102 MW Alta IV project," he announced.

Google is funding just one part of a much larger project. It's providing funding for the Alta IV project, part of a larger complex which will provide 1,550 MW when finished. The first five projects, which are already working, provide 720 MW, quite a lot of energy for a wind farm.

Google has been making a string of investments like this recently. It invested $100 million for the completion of a wind farm in Oregon and will use that as a way of "offsetting" the energy consumption of its data centers.

In another deal, Google has agreed to buy 100 MW of energy for the next 20 years, ensuring an steady revenue flow for the project.

Google won't be purchasing electricity from the operation it's investing in now. The company has invested $400 million in green energy projects, a big chunk of that in the past couple of months or so alone.