The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) says that the number of contracts signed for wind power projects hit a record of 3,500 MW in the first quarter of 2018, a possible predictor of a strong year for wind power.
According to utilitydive.com, AWEA noted that six companies, including Adobe, AT&T and Nestle, signed wind PPAs for the first time while several other corporations were repeat customers. Utilities also stepped up to the plate, with PacifiCorp announcing plans for a $2 billion wind farm in Wyoming.
The site claims there are two major factors contributing to the increase in wind energy projects: greater certainty around tax policy and the fact that developers are eager to meet the deadlines imposed by the Congressionally mandated phase out of the production tax credit (PTC).
Recent Wind Farm Projects
Just last month, General Motors and Bloomberg LP announced they have invested in long-term PPAs with Enel’s new wind farm, which is under construction in Illinois. Enel, through its US renewable company Enel Green Power North America, Inc. (EGPNA), started construction of the 185 MW HillTopper, its first wind farm in the US state of Illinois.
In March, Facebook and Adobe announced they signed power purchase agreements with EGPNA, the renewable energies division of the Enel Group, for the sale of energy produced by Enel’s 320 MW Rattlesnake Creek wind farm. Facebook’s deal with Enel expands upon the previous agreement for the purchase of Rattlesnake Creek’s output, increasing the renewable power supply to Facebook’s data center in Papillion, Nebraska, upon its expansion.
Back in November, tech giant Microsoft signed a PPA with the Swedish state-owned energy company Vattenfall to purchase all the electricity produced from a new 180-megawatt wind farm being built in the Netherlands. The farm will be located in the Wieringermeer polder, near Amsterdam, next to Microsoft’s data center operations.