BRISBANE - Residents who hoped that the Baylands would be suited for generating electricity from wind power received bad news this week.

An energy consultant found the 600-acre site not windy enough to install a turbine, an energy generator that converts wind energy into electrical energy.

The city's Open Space and Ecology Committee received a preliminary report this week after a year of collecting data from a temporary 197-foot-tall metal tower.

The Baylands, a former garbage dump, is considered the windiest part of the city, said Anja Miller, a member of the Committee for Renewable Energy for the Baylands.

She disagreed with the tower's location, and told the Open Space and Ecology Committee it was partially shaded by San Bruno Mountain, and did not get the brunt of the strong winds coming from Candlestick Park.

Miller said many residents support wind power on the land owned by Universal Paragon Corp. To prove it, pinwheels were placed in nearby yards and on decks "to show what the wind can do," she said.

This year, the City Council approved a resolution that would attempt to achieve a goal of 100 percent renewable energy sources for the Baylands redevelopment project, which sits between Highway 101 and Bayshore Boulevard.

KEMA, an energy consultant, was hired to study potential renewable energy sources before an environmental impact report can be completed. Universal Paragon has already submitted a plan to build commercial and industrial office space.

Based on eight million square feet of potential development, KEMA estimated that the energy usage and peak demand requirements would be 83,500 megawatt-hours per year.

Reducing energy demand could come in the form of energy-efficient design, green building and installation of a solar farm, wind or geothermal energies.

A 10-megawatt solar photovoltaic farm, which converts sunlight directly into electricity, was deemed expensive.

Jonathan Scharfman of UPC said a solar farm would cost $50 million.

Karin Corfee of KEMA said in order to have large turbines, they would need to be installed in a large and flat space. They require significant spacing to avoid turbulence between windmills.

At the meeting, Corfee said she had hoped that the wind would play a much larger role in renewable energy at the site.

Miller, who served as Brisbane mayor in 1974-75, said there are turbines available that can work with less wind, are bird friendly, and still achieve good production of energy.

Currently, 95 percent of the state's wind generating capacity and output are in the Altamont Pass, east of San Francisco; Tehachapi, southeast of Bakersfield; and San Gorgonio, near Palm Springs.

Since 2004, wind energy has produced 4,258 million kilowatt-hours of electricity, or about 1.5 percent of the state's total electricity, which is enough to light San Francisco, according to the California Energy Commission.

Meanwhile, one option that could work on the Baylands is geothermal heat pumps, which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency calls an efficient heating and cooling system. It decreases energy use by 30 to 70 percent, Corfee said.

Miller said Universal Paragon and the city should consider providing "sizable land" for the wind farm, and continue evaluating it as part of the environmental impact report process, "to have a good picture of what the land can do."