Demand for Wind Farms Spreading in U.S. Pacific Northwest

Kathie Durbin
The Columbian

June 12, 2001

The rush is on in the U.S. Pacific Northwest to harness wind power in
the Columbia River Gorge and points east.

The Wind Turbine Co. of Bellevue, Washington, is the latest to enter the race. It hopes to build a five-megawatt wind power project on the site of a regional landfill.

The small wind farm, if it gets the necessary permit to operate, would be at least the fifth in the works in southeastern Washington. The largest of these is under construction between Walla Walla, Washington, and Pendleton, Oregon. It will generate 300 megawatts of power when it reaches its full operating capacity next year.

The Bonneville Power Administration has received 25 additional proposals for wind-generation projects since it solicited proposals in February. The agency expects to release its list of recommended projects in about two weeks. If all 25 of the new projects were built, they would have 2,600 megawatts of capacity—enough to serve the energy needs of 425,000 people, or a city the size of Portland, Oregon, said George Darr, manager of the Bonneville Power Administration's renewable power resource program.

Because wind turbines operate only when the wind blows, the actual output would be closer to 850 megawatts, he said.

Demand for Land

Darr has been getting about 20 calls a day from farmers who have been approached by would-be wind-power developers looking for land to lease. The most desirable sites are those in the path of strong prevailing winds and close to the Bonneville Power Administration's power transmission grid.

"It's my impression that developers have been swarming all over the Northwest, trying to lease farmland, most of them in the gorge area," Darr said.

The Wind Turbine Co., founded in 1989, has obtained several state and federal contracts to develop what Larry Miles, the company's president, calls the wind turbine of the future: a two-bladed windmill designed to be positioned downwind of prevailing winds. Miles said his turbine, made of lightweight material, is cheaper to install than the more common three-blade, upwind turbine, which must be rigid to withstand the full force of the wind.

About 30 turbines made according to the new design will span a two-mile stretch of the Columbia Plateau near a regional landfill just north of the Columbia River. Prevailing winds in the area blow from the west and southwest.

Despite local opposition to wind-power projects in the past, Miles said he expected little difficulty getting a permit for the project.

"People in the surrounding county are very enthusiastic about wind power," Miles said. "I am aware of a half-dozen people who are opposed to it."

Concerns about birds being killed by turbines contributed to the abandonment of two local wind-generation projects in the 1990s.

Columbia Gorge Audubon, a conservation group, fought the proposals, citing a high number of documented deaths of birds at a wind farm west of Palm Springs, California. Nearly 570 raptors were confirmed killed at the site over a two-year period when they were struck by spinning blades.

An environmental-impact statement for one of the newly proposed projects found that at least 16 raptor species, including eagles, falcons, hawks, and owls, were present in the region.

The Yakama Tribe of Native Americans also has opposed wind-generation projects in the region, arguing that they would destroy sensitive sacred and cultural sites.

Columbia Gorge Audubon and the Yakama Tribe remain firmly opposed to local development of wind farms. They announced last year that they would fight a plan by Enron Corp. to develop a wind-generation project on thousands of acres the company has leased in the Columbia Hills area. To date, Enron has taken no steps to develop the property.

Rising Global Interest

Darr said many of the problems associated with bird mortality have been resolved with more sensitive siting of turbines, better turbine design, and slower-turning rotors. In addition, the development of larger turbines means fewer are needed to produce the same amount of power.

"I hope all developers in the future will be very sensitive to the siting issue," Darr said.

The wind is a major energy source in Denmark and some other European nations. Global use of wind power has increased nearly four-fold in the past five years, according to the Earth Policy Institute.

In the year 2000 alone, about 4,500 megawatts of wind-powered generating capacity were installed. Most of that growth occurred outside the United States, and the Bush administration's new U.S. energy plan downplays the role of wind power.

California leads the United States in harnessing wind power, according to Miles. But the Pacific Northwest holds considerable potential for increased use.

"There is a potential in Eastern Washington for 4,000 to 5,000 megawatts of wind power," Miles said. "Harvesting the strong, steady winds of the Columbia River basin works especially well with our hydropower base," he added, "because wind can supplement hydropower in low-water periods."

(c) 2001 The Columbian