Matthew McDermott at Treehugger reports a 1.55 gigawatt / 1,550 megawatt wind farm – probably the world’s largest wind farm in the Mojave Desert.

From 1,550 MW Wind Farm, World’s Current Largest, Breaks Ground in Mojave, California

It will boost California’s Wind Power Capacity 25%, and blows $Billions into the local economy

Ned Farquhar, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Land and Minerals Management, U.S. Dept. of the Interior, addresses the guests at Terra-Gen Power’s ground breaking ceremony for Alta Wind Energy Center in Mojave, California. Photo: Rod Thornburg

It’s been a while since we’ve seen an honest to goodness gigantic wind power project actually start construction, so this is definitely worth noting: Terra-Gen Power has announced it has begun construction on what it’s calling the world’s largest wind energy project, the 1,550 megawatt Alta Wind Energy Center, in Mojave, California. At double the capacity of the next largest completed project, the wind farm will generate enough power to electrify 275,000 homes.

When completed, AWEC will consist of 600 Vestas turbines, increase the installed wind power capacity in California by 25% and, according to Terra-Gen, conserve more than 888 million gallons of water annually–presumably based on had an equivalent amount of energy been generated via non-renewable energy.

via 1,550 MW Wind Farm, World’s Current Largest, Breaks Ground in Mojave, California : TreeHugger.