The largest wind farm in the state of Washington came online this week, phase one of the Lower Snake River Wind Facility.
149 wind turbines will power about 100,000 homes.
The 343 megawatt (MW) project is utility Puget Sound Energy’s third wind farm – combined the wind farms generate power for about 230,000 households.
"The Lower Snake River project has created more economic activity in Garfield County than we’ve seen since the early 1970s, when Lower Granite Dam was being built," says Alesia Ruchert, Garfield County managing director for the Southeast Washington Economic Development Association. "It’s been a definite shot in the arm."
Renewable Energy Systems Americas Inc. (RES Americas) constructed the farm using Siemens 2.3 MW turbines (430 feet high!), which created 250 wind jobs at its peak. It cost $830 million to build including transmission network upgrades.
Although the wind farm spans over 21,600 acres, the vast majority of the land remains available for farming, grazing and open space. The footprint of the wind turbines, substations, access roads and eight-mile corridor of transmission lines covers just 200 acres.
Other New Wind Farms
Sempra Energy and BP Wind plan to spend $1 billion on wind farms in Pennsylvania (141 MW) and Kansas (419 MW) this year, the biggest in those states. GE is supplying the turbines. Construction is underway in Pennsylvania.
Also in Kansas, Competitive Power Ventures’ renewable energy division closed financing for 165.65 MW, Cimarron Wind Energy Project, which is under construction. Siemens will provide 72 turbines and in addition to participating in financing.
Enel Green Power’s 200 MW wind farm is online in Kansas, with 111 wind turbines.
Duke Energy is building a 400 MW wind farm in Texas, the Los Vientos Windpower Project, spanning 30,000 acres. Expected to come online late this year, it will have 84, 2.4 MW Mitsubishi turbines and 87, 2.7 MW Siemens turbines. Other components will be procured locally.
And Exergy Development Group has wind farms under construction in Idaho (116 MW) and Minnesota (36 MW), and a 400 MW Texas farm also comes online this year.
NextEra, (formerly FPL Group) says it will invest up to $2.8 billion in wind farms through 2014.
Meanwhile, Pattern Energy decided against building the 100 MW Yolo County wind project because it would have a negative impact on birds, including eagles.
The Dept of Interior recently approved the Tule Wind Power Project, to be built on public land. The 186 MW wind farm is near San Diego, and will be built by Iberdrola Renewables.
Wind developers are racing to build new plants ahead of the looming expiration of the wind production tax credit at the end of this year.
A new online tool helps developers choose the best sites for wind in the US:
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