Google invests $200m in Texas wind farm

Google announced Wednesday it has invested 200 million U.S. dollars in a wind farm in west Texas, which will become a part of the company's 1 billion U.S. dollars' renewable energy portfolio. The Spinning Spur Wind Project in Oldham County, Texas, will generate "enough energy to power more than 60,000 average U.S. homes," Google said in a statement on its official blog. The 161 megawatt farm, built by EDF Renewable Energy, began operating in December. "We look for projects like Spinning Spur because, in addition to creating more renewable energy and strengthening the local economy, they also make for smart investments: they offer attractive returns relative to the risks and allow us to invest in a broad range of assets," Google said. The Internet giant has made 11 renewable energy investments since 2010. Altogether, the renewable energy projects the company has invested in are capable of generating 2 gigawatts of power, Google said. Google, based in Mountain View, California, created in June last year a 280-million-dollar fund with SolarCity, an American home solar energy designing and installing company, and the investment is said to be Google's largest of the kind in clean power to date.