Described as the largest renewable energy effort in the U.S., the $11 billion SunZia Wind project in New Mexico has started delivering electrical power to consumers in California.
Testing of the project’s 916 turbines recently began as the power generating effort will officially start commercial operations later this quarter. Developing 3.5 gigawatts of wind power, it is delivering electricity over a 550-mile transmission line to California.
SunZia was proposed in 2006 to carry wind-generated electricity to 3 million consumers in Arizona and California. It has faced opposition and controversy over the years repeated permitting delays over the years, reported E and E News, despite winning approval in 2015 from the Bureau of Land Management.
Some of the opposition came from the U.S. Army because of the transmission line’s closeness to the White Sands Missile Range. Eventually, the Army convinced developers to re-route the line around the range and the new route was chosen six years ago. Native American tribes also opposed the line as well as bird organizations such as the Audubon Society.
Some of the tribes and environmentalists filed suit but their efforts were stopped in 2024 when a U.S. District Judge ruled their efforts were too late. Judge Jennifer Zips ruled the Bureau of Land Management had fulfilled its obligations to identify historic sites along the route of the SunZia transmission line.
Developer Pattern Energy Group LP announced in 2023 it had finally secured $11 billion in financing. Approval came three years after the company had been acquired by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.
“Our hope is this successful financing of the largest clean energy infrastructure project in American history serves as an example for other ambitious renewable infrastructure initiatives that are needed to accelerate our transition to a carbon free future,” said Hunter Armistead, CEO of Pattern Energy.
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