Terra-Gen Power's 1,020-MW Alta Wind farm in Tehachapi, California, is expected to reach 1,320 MW by the end of the year. The phased-in facility, located in Kern County about 115 miles north of Los Angeles, has separate power purchase agreements carved out from a 1,550-MW master power purchase agreement with Southern California Edison and is seen as helping the investor-owned utility meet the state's ambitious renewable portfolio standard.
However, what has been built thus far and what is under construction is less than half of what was originally conceived in 2006 as a 3,100-MW project. Read full story here: News New Mexico
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The key statements on why this wnd farm was even built is in the 3rd and 2nd to last paragraphs of Platt's article:
"Each capital raising relied, in part, on the projects receiving cash reimbursements under the US Treasury's 1603 program, which reimburses developers 30% of the cost of construction once the projects are connected to the grid.
In 2011 the owners and partners in Alta Wind phases 1 through 5, which have a combined capacity of 660 MW, received approximately $445 million in reimbursements from Treasury.
By the end of this year, the owners and partners of phases 6 through 9 are expected to be reimbursed another $445 million."
This is money from the now-expired Section 1603 grant program, which paid windfarm developers 30% of the capital cost of the project in lieu of recieving the PTC, irregardless of how much power was actually produced.
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