Potentially the largest and most significant renewable energy project has just been announced by Southern California Edison when they said they were about to begin construction on a desert wind farm that will eventually provide 4,500 MW of electricity. This is a massive power plant that will provide power for around 3 million homes. The intended timeframe for completion will see the power plant operational in 2013.

 

The Tehachapi Renewal Project will harness the desert winds that blow through the Tehachapi Mountains which lie around 100 miles north of Los Angeles.

The first step in the project will be the construction of substations - dubbed Windhub and Highwind - near Mojave and Monolith with transmission lines becoming operational in 2009.

At this stage, it’s only this first phase that has received approval with regulatory approval still being carried out on the later phases.

Last News Release : 7 March, 2008

To read about more wind power developments, visit the Wind Power page.