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LONDON, England - 05/24/05 - Scottish Power's US energy subsidiary, PPM Energy (PPM), has said it will acquire and build the 150 MW Shiloh wind project in Northern California.

The Shiloh project in Solano County was acquired from enXco Inc., a subsidiary of France-based EDF Energies SA with the capital invested in the project expected to reach about $235 million.

Output from the wind farm is currently being marketed and will be sold under long-term agreements, the company said.
 
PPM currently controls approximately 830 megawatts (MW) of wind power in seven states - including California - and has previously announced projects totaling 424 MW under development this year.
 
With Shiloh's 150 MW, PPM is expected to complete 574 MW this year - more than announced to date by any other US developer. The company will have a total of approximately 1,400 MW under its control by year-end, well on target toward its goal of bringing 2,300 MW of wind power online by 2010, said a company spokesman.

Wind power farms like the Shiloh project feature multiple propeller-driven turbines that use the energy in the motion of the wind to generate mechanical energy, which is then converted to electrical energy.

The components of a utility-scale "wind farm" include the wind turbines, an underground power transmission system, control and maintenance facilities, and a substation that connects the farm with the utility power grid, according to the California Energy Commission (CEC) in Sacramento.

Utility-scale wind turbines are classified by size - small (less than 50 kilowatts [kW]); intermediate (50 to 500 kW); and large (above 500 kW) and are generally located in areas with average annual wind speeds of at least 13 miles per hour.

Small and intermediate turbines make up the bulk of the older installed turbine base, but new turbines installed in the late 1990s are generally 600 kW and larger. The turbines usually produce about 50 to 300 kW of electricity each.

California's wind plants extend over more than 27,000 acres, yet only 10% - 15% of that total area is actually occupied by the turbines.

More than 13,000 of California's wind turbines - or 95% of all of the state's wind generating capacity and output - are located in three primary regions - Altamont Pass, east of San Francisco; Tehachapi, south east of Bakersfield; and San Gorgonio, near Palm Springs, east of Los Angeles), which combine to produce about 11% of the world's total wind-generated electricity.
 
Wind power is more available during certain seasons because climatic conditions affect wind speed.
 
In California, wind speeds are highest in the hot summer months, and approximately three-fourths of all annual wind power output is produced during the spring and summer, the CEC said.

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