Shepherd Flat Wind Farms; an Initiative to Access Cost-Efficient Energy Hub

Energy crisis is the great dilemma, all the developed and under developed countries are seeking convenient and cheap alternative ways to produce electricity. One such initiative has been taken by Caithness Energy and GE i.e. Shepherd Flat Wind Farms.

Shepherd Flat Wind Farms is an intended wind farm near Arlington, Oregon, United States. Wind turbines in this area were installed in 2010 and it is estimated that the whole project will be completed till 2012. Estimated amount of investment in this project is US $100 million and it is expected that this wind farm will be the world’s largest land oriented wind farm.

This wind farm will produce energy of 845MW; such power can provide energy to 235,000 homes. It operates on permanent magnetic generators which is a revolution in the turbine technology. Shepherd Flat Wind Farms will be the first profitable wind farm that will operate on the latest technological turbines. Aim of this project is to meet the energy goals of California in a cost-efficient way. Electricity that Shepherd Flat Wind Farms will produce will be provided to Southern California Edison on the basis of enduring agreements.

Caithless Energy was the main developer of this project, GE also did heavy investments and it was the one that initially invested in Shepherds Flats and manufactured turbines for this projects. GE also played a vital role in the operations and maintenance functions of Shepherd Flat Wind Farms. Co-investors include; Sumitomo Cooperation of America and Tyr Energy which are the subsidiaries of Sumitomo Corporation and ITOCHU Corporation respectively. These Corporations have in depth exposure of power projects.

Projects like Shepherd Flat Wind Farms are need of the day; it is a great practical example for other companies to invest in such projects in order to yield a cost effective energy system with better utilization of available resources.