Sempra US Gas and Power in collaboration with BP Wind Energy revealed early this year that the Mehoopany Wind Farm, a $250 million wind farm in Pennsylvania, is now fully operational.
Sempra US Gas and Power CEO and President Jeffrey W. Martin expressed joy at the announcement, praising the State of Pennsylvania for leading the way in energy production for the economic growth of the US for the past century and taking that legacy even further with the adoption of clean, sustainable wind energy.
The BP Wind Energy CEO and President, John Graham, also expressed similar sentiment when hailing the Sempra and BP partnership which gave rise to the present milestone. He also expressed gratitude for all the support received during the project and hoped that the partnership would continue to grow.
The Mehoopany Wind Farm is located near the Scranton area and is made up of 88 GE xle wind turbine generators which produce a total of around 141 MW electricity from their individual 1.6 MW capacities.
The National Renewables Cooperative Organisation has also made available longstanding power purchase deals with Old Dominion Electric Cooperative and Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative.
Apart from the power production, the project also led to the creation of over 400 jobs during the construction phase, with a further 15 or so employed permanently for maintenance of the project. The wind farm, which is also the largest in the state, will be wholly owned by a BP Wind Energy partner company.
BP has been leading US investments among oil and gas companies from five years ago, with more US-based investments compared to its investments in other countries. From 2005, about $8 billion worth of investments have been channelled towards development of alternative energy. Presently, BP Wind and Energy contributes to 16 wind farms situated in nine states, and producing a gross capacity of about 2600 MW.
Great to see recognition of the Northeast PA region! There are three major wind farms in the area now, with the first two being Waymart Mountain and the hills by Wilkes-Barre. I have noticed the staging areas for the windmills have been slowly emptying over the past year or so, and was wondering where the parts were going. For all the naysayers of wind power, you only notice the windmills for the first couple of years, and then they become part of the scenery. If they placed a VAWT wind farm in the hills of Hazleton, it would be phenomenal! Keep up the good work GreenOptimistic!