By Kari Williamson

Both wind farms are expected to be in commercial operation by year-end 2012, and will have a combined total output of 560 MW.

The Mehoopany Wind Farm will be located in Wyoming County, Pennsylvania and is expected to generate up to 141 MW of energy.

Construction of the wind farm began in November 2011, and it will consist of 88 GE 1.6 MW wind turbines.

The power output from the wind farm, which will be constructed by Renewable Energy Systems Americas Inc. (RES Americas), has been sold under contract to Old Dominion Electric Cooperative and Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative Inc.

The Flat Ridge 2 Wind farm will consist of 262 GE 1.6 MW wind turbines, generating 419 MW of renewable power. The construction contract for the Flat Ridge 2 Wind Farm has been awarded to Blattner Energy.

The power output from the Flat Ridge 2 Wind Farm has been sold under contracts to Associated Electric Cooperative, Inc. and Southwestern Electric Power Company, a unit of American Electric Power. A third contract has been secured but has yet to be announced.

BP will be the operator of both wind farms when they become commercially operational.

Sempra doubles wind and solar

Jeffrey W. Martin, president and CEO of Sempra U.S. Gas & Power, says: “This is an exciting time for our company. Over the next 12 months we expect to more than double the size of our operating wind and solar generation portfolios, resulting in significantly improved recurring cash flows from long-term contracted assets.”