Planned wind farm reduces turbines
Major construction on the project is set to start in early spring 2010.
Horizon Wind Energy, the international firm developing the wind farm, submitted on Monday to the state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council, or EFSEC, a request to cut 13 turbines out of its plans.
The council will meet June 9 in Olympia to consider a schedule of meetings to consider the change in a project agreement between the firm and EFSEC.
Joy Potter of Ellensburg, Horizon's project manager, after taking the request to EFSEC, said the reduction in turbines around the edge of the project's boundary 12 miles northwest of Ellensburg better meets the turbine location requirements set forth by Gov. Chris Gregoire and EFSEC.
She said Horizon has chosen to use wind turbines that have a higher power generation capacity, which were not available when the project was approved last year. Having higher-capacity turbines means fewer turbines are needed to reach the project's maximum 100-megawatt operational goal.
This also allowed more flexibility in meeting EFSEC and the governor's setback requirements from structures, Potter said.
In approving the project, EFSEC and the governor called on Horizon to maximize setbacks between structures and turbine towers as the company settled on locations for each turbine.
A change in the location of the wind farm's operations and maintenance facility also is being requested, which the company said further reduces the project's overall visual impact by increasing its distance away from U.S. Highway 97.
"The combination of actions will result in significant, overall reduction in the visual impact of the project to a majority of existing residences and a reduction in the permanently disturbed footprint area," the request to EFSEC stated.
The request also said there will be "modest adjustments" to turbine corridors.
Horizon's agreement with EFSEC allows towers with a maximum 410-foot height - from the tip of a vertically extended turbine blade to the ground. Minimum setbacks are to be the distance equal to four times the height from blade tip to the ground.
Work on the 6,000-acre project, with construction estimated at $220 million to $250 million, was moved from this year to spring 2010 to allow Horizon to work out an agreement with the Bonneville Power Administration to interconnect the wind farm's lines with BPA. The federal power agency is also working on how it integrates wind and other alternative and renewable power projects into its system.
The wind farm will be spread on ridgetops on both sides of U.S. Highway 97.
Gregoire OK'd the project on Sept. 18, 2007, but county government and opponents of the project site later filed a court challenge to throw out the approval. The state Supreme Court on Nov. 20, 2008, unanimously ruled the governor and EFSEC had acted lawfully and upheld the approval.