Sumitomo enters U.S. wind energy business in Texas

New York-based Sumitomo Corp. of America in conjunction with its parent company Tokyo-based Sumitomo said today it is entering the U.S. wind energy business, purchasing an interest in a 120 megawatt, $240 million wind farm in Martin County, Texas.

Sumitomo said it purchased a 42.5 percent share in Stanton Wind Energy from AIG Financial Products, part of American International Group (NYSE:AIG). The Stanton wind project is operated by Stanton Wind Holdings, a subsidiary of the wind developer Invenergy Wind North America. The remaining shares are held by a unit of General Electric, GE Energy Financial Services, and the Invenergy group (see GE invests in Texas, Illinois wind projects).

When compared to coal power plants, the 120 MW wind power facility is expected to help reduce 800,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually and 20,000,000 tons over 25 years.

Sumitomo already has two wind farms in Japan, and one under development in China through a joint venture. The proposed 12-square-kilometer (12,000,000 square meters) wind farm in Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia, is expected to provide electricity to the national grid, while reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 140,000 tons per year (see ADB loans $24M to Inner Mongolia wind farm).

With its new strategic focus, Sumitomo said it wants a piece of the U.S.’s growing wind power market. At the end of 2008, 25 gigawatts of wind power generation facilities were introduced in the United States, according to the American Wind Energy Association (see Wind market could hit record high in U.S.). The U.S. Department of Energy predicts that 20 percent of electricity generation could come from wind power by 2030.

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