Google has announced it is making a major investment into a central Iowa wind farm.

The internet supergiant is putting $75 million into the Rippey Wind Farm in Greene County.  The farm is owned by RPM Access, based out of West Des Moines, and currently has 20 turbines that produce up to 50 megawatts of wind power, enough to power 15,000 homes.
RPM project developer Jim Dimond tells Raccoon Valley Radio, the tax credits are what make investing in wind farms appealing to large companies.  Google will be able to get a large tax credit for investing, while RPM Access will continue to manage the wind farm.

Dimond says the partnership is a win-win for all involved.

Dimond says wind energy companies are constantly communicating with sources of capital as it is an industry with a lot of upfront costs.  For example, each wind turbine costs about $4 million to install, putting the Rippey project at around $80 million.

In general, Dimond says the project would not have been possible without the cooperation of the local community and he appreciates the help of landowners and the county.  He compliments the fact that they were able to see the potential this project has, beyond their own financial benefit.

Dimond has spent four years working on this project and says he has enjoyed working with the Greene County Community.

This not the first time Google has invested in a clean energy project.  To date, they’ve invested $990 million in projects across the U.S. and Germany.

Google has a data center in Council Bluffs, roughly 128 miles southwest of the Rippey wind farm.  Though they will not get power from the Greene County site, Google plans to have about one-third of the power needed for their data centers come directly from clean energy.