Google has officially jumped into the utility-scale renewable energy sector and diversified its clean energy portfolio with an investment of $38.8 million into two North Dakota wind farms, generating a total of 69.5 megawatts of electricity.
Thus far, Google's clean energy endeavors have mostly been in research and development of innovative technologies like PowerMeter, the home energy management platform, and early-stage clean energy companies like eSolar and AltaRock.
But where the Ashtabula Wind project differs from most of Google's other clean energy projects is that it is already up and feeding electricity to the grid. And more importantly, it has proven itself as an economically viable bread-winner.
"Smart capital includes not only... early-stage company investments, but also dedicated funding for utility-scale projects," writes Rick Needham, Green Business Operations Manager at the Official Google Blog. "To tackle this need, we’ve been looking at investments in renewable energy projects, like the one we just signed, that can accelerate the deployment of the latest clean energy technology while providing attractive returns to Google and more capital for developers to build additional projects."
In February, one of the company's newest subsidiaries, Google Energy, won federal regulatory approval to buy and sell electricity as a utility.




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