Wind turbines near Encino, NM. Minesh Bacrania/Bloomberg via Getty Images
A wind farm and transmission line billed as the largest clean energy project in US history has secured $11 billion in financing and started construction.
Pattern Energy Group said Wednesday it closed on financing that includes about $8.8 billion in construction and term facilities and $2.25 billion in tax equity for the 3.5 gigawatt SunZia wind farm in New Mexico and 550-mile transmission line carrying electricity to Arizona. Pattern was bought by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board in 2020.
It took more than 17 years for SunZia to gain approvals and begin building, highlighting the difficulty of building transmission lines in the US. Grid experts say the country needs a huge build-out of transmission to move energy produced by wind and solar farms, but regulatory agencies, local landowners and conservationists can all slow or even stop development.
