The wind farm along the Columbia River Gorge has installed capacity of 100.8MW and will begin operation this quarter.

``This demonstrates our ongoing commitment to adding clean, renewable energy sources to our energy portfolio,’’ said Steve Klein, general manager of SCPUD, the second largest publicly owned utility in the Pacific Northwest.

He said that in two years the utility has gone from no wind resources to an energy portfolio with more than eight percent.

Developer Hay Canyon Wind is a subsidiary of Iberdrola Renewables, which claims to be the world’s largest wind power provider.

Klein said the wind purchase contract complements other efforts by the utility to utilize alternative energy including co-generation fueled by wood waste, a biogas facility and several hydroelectric projects.

The utility is also researching tidal and geothermal energy opportunities in western Washington state.