Google Inc. and renewable energy developer EDF Renewable Energy today announced that Google has made an approximately $200 million equity investment in the Spinning Spur Wind Project, a 161 megawatt facility located in Oldham County, Texas. The project was built by EDF Renewable Energy, a subsidiary of EDF Energies Nouvelles, who remains an owner and manager in the project, bringing its operational and management expertise in over 50 other renewable energy projects to the partnership.

161 MW Spinning Spur Wind Project in Texas (Photo: Business Wire)

“We’re proud to be part of a project that provides the Lone Star state with a new source of low-cost, renewable energy and supports the state’s thriving wind industry,” said Kojo Ako-Asare, Senior Manager, Google Corporate Finance. "This investment reflects Google's ongoing commitment to clean energy and our belief that corporations can be an important new source of capital for this sector."

“EDF Renewable Energy is pleased to engage with an innovative company like Google on this equity financing,” said Jim Peters, Vice President of Project Finance. “The partnership between our companies reflects a departure from sourcing investment capital from traditional financial institutions for our renewable energy projects. This transaction provides an opportunity for a leading renewable energy developer to join forces with a leading technology company to create value for both our companies and our respective customers.”

Construction of the Spinning Spur wind energy project commenced in February and achieved commercial operation in late December. The Spinning Spur project consists of 70 Siemens 2.3 MW turbines. The facility has the capacity to generate enough clean energy to power approximately 60,000 average U.S. homes, and the energy it produces has been contracted to SPS, a utility that primarily serves Texas and New Mexico.

Spinning Spur joins 10 other renewable energy investments Google has made since 2010, which together can produce 2GW of power.

About EDF Renewable Energy:

EDF Renewable Energy - formerly enXco - is a leading U.S. independent power producer with more than 25 years of expertise in the renewable industry, covering all range of services from project development, management to operations and maintenance. EDF Renewable Energy specializes in wind and solar photovoltaic with presence in other segments of the renewable energy market: biogas, biomass, hydro, marine energy and storage solutions. The company develops, constructs, operates and manages renewable energy projects throughout the United States for its own accord as well as for third parties. EDF Renewable Energy’s portfolio consists of over 3.5 gigawatts of developed projects with 1.8 gigawatts of installed capacity. EDF Renewable Energy is the U.S. subsidiary of EDF Energies Nouvelles. EDF Energies Nouvelles is the renewable energy arm of the EDF group, the leading electricity company in the world. For more information visit: www.edf-re.com

About Google:

Google is a global technology leader focused on improving the ways people connect with information. Google’s innovations in web search and advertising have made its website a top Internet property and its brand one of the most recognized in the world.

Google is a trademark of Google Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.

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