Wind power - New Wyoming plant generating plenty of interest

EVANSTON, Wyo. - The idea of alternative energy has been a hot topic recently, especially with the skyrocketing price of gasoline and other fossil fuels.

But 20 or 30 years ago, few people were interested in developing environmentally friendly or "green" energy sources.

Gary Tassainer, president of Lehi-based Tasco Engineering, is an electrical engineer by training, and developing wind power has been his passion for more than two decades. He said he has been working on high-voltage electrical systems for about 30 years.

"For me personally, power generation has been my love of life," he said. "I've spent a good portion of my career trying to get generation projects up and done."

His firm's wind farm is about 20 miles east of Evanston, Wyo., and sits on several acres of cattle grazing land just a few miles off I-80.

"We're supposed to be finished Nov. 30, and we'll be pretty close to that," said Tassainer.

He expects to begin generating electricity by next spring. The 29-turbine project covers six parcels of land that are each one square mile, he said.

There is also a 200-megawatt wind farm project about 10 miles to the west developed by Florida Power and Light and also sells its power to PacifiCorp.

In addition to developing wind power, Tassainer has built electrical generation systems using natural gas in St. George, Springville and Eagle Mountain. But he started seriously looking into possibilities for wind in 1998, gathering data, obtaining required permits and researching how to facilitate the sale of electricity to power suppliers.

"I've worked so hard on this with so many drawbacks and so many setbacks," he said. At one point he told his business partner, Tasco business development director Rick Frandsen, he doubted the project would ever get done.

"I've spent half my life on it, and we're never going to see it," Tassainer said. However, he said Frandsen kept encouraging him to move forward and see it through.

Part of the problem has been bureaucratic red tape because the project is situated on land that contains part of the historic Mormon Trail. In addition, other regulations and requirements had to be met before the project could proceed - not to mention resistance by local residents who consider the towers eyesores.

"There have been some public hearings where people have expressed the fact they didn't want (the wind turbines)," he said. "I've always said, 'Would you prefer to suck brown smoke or look at these turbines?"'

The wind turbines stand 80 meters tall with rotor blades of varying length, depending upon the design, and huge cables run from the generator at the top down the length of the tower into transformers in the base of the unit, then underground into an electrical substation and eventually into transmission lines.

"From the ground to the tip of the blade is over 400 feet," Frandsen said.

For the turbines to operate, winds speeds can range from 5 mph up to about 50 mph. Frandsen said if winds are too high, the computer will stop the blades and "lock out" the turbine.

Also, he said the turbines are silent and have no impact on the land or livestock.

"(Ranchers) will graze this land. There won't be fences around; the cattle that graze now are going to graze right up to (the towers)," he said.

Frandsen added the land that is encumbered is the land on which the towers are constructed.

It takes about 100 workers to construct the project, with about 20 permanent workers needed to operate the wind farm after completion of all phases.

"And those are good-paying jobs; we're talking 40K and up," Tassainer said.

Though the project is located in Wyoming, Tassainer said he leases some of the property for his wind farm from Utahns who actually own the land. It took Tasco almost 10 years to get Phase 1 up and ready to run, but Tassainer said subsequent phases should now only take about a year to develop.

New power generation

Tasco designed and built the transmission lines that now connect to power distribution lines owned by Rocky Mountain Power. The majority of the electricity generated from the project will go to homes and businesses along the Wasatch Front.

"It's taken a lot of hard work to get here, but we just couldn't be more proud of a project," said Tassainer.

Initially, the company was incorporated as Tassainer Co., but he changed it upon realizing the difficulties people had spelling his name. It later became Tasco Engineering.

The company's current project includes 29 turbines for Phase 1; Phase 2 will have 38 turbines, with 38 for each subsequent phase - at least three phases and likely six. Overall the project could take six more years to complete.

Other than Phase 1, each farm will generate up to 80 megawatts of electricity. Each turbine is rated at 2,100 kilowatts (which would power 700 homes at full capacity). Phase 1 would power 20,300 homes. Subsequent phases would power 26,600 houses at full capacity.

"Most wind production facilities are rated somewhere between 30 and 45 percent. But, actually, the highest I've ever seen is like 42 percent," said Tassainer.

"On an average day, 7,000 homes could get their power just from Phase 1," said Frandsen.

Advancing technology

Tassainer said wind technology has made huge improvements over the past seven to 10 years.

"Quite frankly, until three years ago when we started seeing major increases in (the prices of) oil and gas, wind has not been as competitive," Tassainer said. "The technology itself has been a hard technology for utilities to accept."

He added it has taken some time for power producers to catch up with the "out of the box" thinking wind power requires.

"PacifiCorp has changed their attitude nearly 180 degrees in the last six years," Tassainer said.

He attributes the change to the "exceeding pressure" due to the high price of coal and oil and natural gas.

"Anybody is a fool who doesn't admit that we've got some problems with our environment," he said. "The global warming deal is real, and people that don't believe that, they've got their head in the sand."

He conceded that technology is advancing to make fossil fuels burn cleaner, and nuclear energy could also play a more prominent role in the coming years.

Tassainer said, "One thing you need to keep in mind is that if all of the wind in the United States was developed for (electricity) generation, it would only satisfy 20 percent of the demand."

He said the development of wind power is a supplement to the nation's energy needs, not a way to eliminate any other particular source.

"Too many people fought the technology because they thought it would be a replacement, and it just can't."

Costly yet profitable

Tassainer said wind power generation has now become so popular, companies that manufacture turbine towers cannot keep up with demand, and the waiting time for new towers is 2009.

He estimated the cost to develop and ultimately build this project at about $150 million for the first phase, he said. Costs were so high, he said, that he had to sell his project to Mission Energy, a subsidiary of California Edison, which supplies electricity to Los Angeles. However, he retained the rights to develop the electrical system for the project.

Tassainer said the wind energy industry is in its infancy right now, but it is already feeling the heat of competition from various companies wading into the industry.

He said in the beginning, landowners were expected to get about $2,000-$3,000 per turbine for leasing their property, but dynamics have changed dramatically and so has profitabilty. Today, landowners are "getting between $7,000 and $8,000 per turbine (annually) if it sits on their property," said Tassainer. "And those are 20-year leases."

Fruits of labor

"People have spent their careers at petroleum-based power plants, and I took a major paradigm shift when I moved to a renewable resource 10 years ago," said Tassainer.

He said when he talked to utility companies in the initial years about renewable fuel projects, they "thought I was crazy." He researched the success some European countries were having developing wind energy.

"Most of the technology comes out of Denmark, then Germany jumped on and probably the U.S. came along about 15 years ago," said Tassainer.

"It's been phenomenal. (But) a year ago it was depressing," he said.

Tassainer said last year he had a conversation with a neighbor who was a successful businessman who told him to re-evaluate his plans because he was spending too much money trying to pursue the wind energy project and jeopardizing his family's future. He advised Tassainer to return to his base business and get back to solvency.

In addition, Tassainer's eldest son, who is the company's accountant, also warned of impending financial ruin if changes weren't made.

After heeding their advice, Tasco was able to right itself and Tassainer was also able to fund his pet project, albeit a little less aggressively. The result was finally realized recently when Tasco was able to strike the deal to complete the wind farm project and find a buyer for the energy it produced.

Tassainer said for years he was unable to convince anyone to invest in his dream, but just a few weeks ago he was offered $150 million from a venture capitalist group to fund his next project.

He said, "I'll consider it."

After years of struggle and significant personal sacrifice, Tassainer said he is now able to enjoy the fruits of his "labor of love."

At 59, he said he plans to retire in three years knowing that his financial future and professional legacy will be secure.

"It's just been a dream come true, that's all there is to it," he said