Construction Begins on Major Wind Farm

First Wind, a Massachusetts-based renewable energy start-up, broke ground on Friday on a 97-turbine wind farm in Milford, Utah. The Milford Wind Corridor Project is expected to come on-line by the end of 2009 and will generate 203 MW of emissions-free energy upon its completion. The majority of the energy generated will supply communities in and around Los Angeles, under the auspices of a 20-year power purchase agreement announced last December; the L.A. Department of Water and Power will receive 185 MW under the first phase of this project, with 10 MW going to Burbank and 5 MW to Pasadena. This amount will be enough to power 39,000 homes and covers nearly 2% of the city’s 20% renewable energy goal for 2010.

Soon to be the largest wind farm in the state, the Milford Project will create about 275 jobs during construction and is also the first to be completed in conjunction with the federal Bureau of Land Management. Click here to read the project overview and here for a map of Utah’s wind potential.

Sources: “First Wind Begins Construction on Milford Wind Corridor Project”, First Wind (press release); “Bureau of Land Management approves Milford Wind Corridor”, Emerging Energy News;“BLM clears way for Milford wind corridor”, The Salt Lake Tribune;“Milford Wind Corridor Project Overview with Land Ownership”, Office of Governor, Utah; “BLM: Utah: Wind Energy”, “Utah Wind Power Potential”, U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management; “California in Brief: Los Angeles – City Council approves wind-power deals”, Los Angeles Times (Dec. 20, 2007); “Utah wind farm to benefit L.A.”, Deseret Morning News (Dec. 21, 2007).


Posted on Monday, November 17th, 2008 at 9:30 am | Tagged in Energy, Energy Efficiency, Green Collar Jobs, Renewables, Sustainability, Technology | posted by Jamie

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