Representatives of British Petroleum Wind Energy are wooing Pratt County farmers to use their land for development of a possible wind farm in Pratt County while BP is finishing preparations to put their Flat Ridge Wind Farm with 40 wind turbines into operation in Barber County.
Representatives of British Petroleum Wind Energy are wooing Pratt County farmers to use their land for development of a possible wind farm in Pratt County while BP is finishing preparations to put their Flat Ridge Wind Farm with 40 wind turbines into operation in Barber County.
Pratt, Kan. - Representatives of British Petroleum Wind Energy are wooing Pratt County farmers to use their land for development of a possible wind farm in Pratt County while BP is finishing preparations to put their Flat Ridge Wind Farm with 40 wind turbines into operation in Barber County.
The last of the wind generators is undergoing the required 96 hours of testing before Flat Ridge has a ribbon cutting some time in the first or second week of March, said Mark Wengierski, BP land development manager at the Pratt Rotary Club meeting on Thursday.
The tests determine if the generator produces the manufactures designated capacity. The tests are run remotely from headquarters in Houston. Once the generators pass inspection the …
... more [truncated due to possible copyright]Pratt, Kan. - Representatives of British Petroleum Wind Energy are wooing Pratt County farmers to use their land for development of a possible wind farm in Pratt County while BP is finishing preparations to put their Flat Ridge Wind Farm with 40 wind turbines into operation in Barber County.
The last of the wind generators is undergoing the required 96 hours of testing before Flat Ridge has a ribbon cutting some time in the first or second week of March, said Mark Wengierski, BP land development manager at the Pratt Rotary Club meeting on Thursday.
The tests determine if the generator produces the manufactures designated capacity. The tests are run remotely from headquarters in Houston. Once the generators pass inspection the facility will begin operations with a crew of five or six on site to inspect gearboxes, maintain computers and roads.
Meanwhile eight land agents are busy looking for pockets of Pratt County farmers, the primary focus is farmers south of Pratt, who will support the development of wind energy on their property, Wengierski said.
"There's an incredible wind resource in Pratt County. We'd like to develop it in the future," Wengierski said.
The response in Pratt County has been positive and BP is encouraged with the possibilities.
"We're excited to be in Pratt County and continue our efforts," he said.
Some Pratt County farmers have signed contracts but county permitting has not started.
Pratt County isn't the only place BP is looking for farmers. Land agents are also looking for sites in Barber, Ford, Kiowa, Harper and Kingman Counties.
Wind energy is a renewable energy source and the demand should increase. It will never have a fuel cost adjustment because the wind is free.
Wind farms will help the government meet its goal of 10 percent of the total energy generation in the U.S. coming from renewable energy sources by 2010, Wengierski said.
It takes time to develop a wind farm. Development can run from five to 10 years, construction takes about eight months and the facility contracts are good for 40 years. At the end of the contract period BP has two options. By contract agreement they have to remove the units and restore the land to its condition before the units were installed.
However, if BP decides the property is still valuable they can negotiate a new contract with the landowner, he said.
Farmers are compensated per acre of land, BP pays for any increase in property tax, BP pays for any crop damage, farmers receive a stable cash flow for use of the property and a guaranteed minimum payment in case of windless days or mechanical problems.
A key factor for any energy development in the area is the proposed construction of a 765 KV transmission line for ITC and Westar. Without that line to handle the increased load it will be difficult to develop wind energy in this area.
"This is a very constrained transmission area," Wengierski said.
The wind generators are controlled two ways. A computer on each generator automatically allows the blades to start turning when the wind reaches 8 mph and turns the system off if the wind hits 55 mph for longer than 20 minutes so it doesn't damage the gearbox.
The wind turbines can also be controlled remotely from offices in Houston.
BP has an office in Pratt at 208 ½ South Main. The phone number is 672-3344 and is manned by land agents.
Flat figures
• Flat Ridge Wind Farm has 40 wind generators, sits on 4,000 acres and produces 100 megawatts of electricity enough to serve 30,000 homes.
• Each wind turbine is about the size of a Winnebago motor home.
• From 1 to 3 percent of the lease land is taken out of production.
• Over 200 different individuals worked on construction.
• Each Blade is 150 feet long. It is 262 feet from ground up to the hub.
• It is 110 feet from the ground to base of a fan tip when pointed straight down.
• From ground level to the tip of a vertical blade is 425 feet
.
• It takes from 16 to 18 semis to bring in all the pieces for just one generator.
• Wind generators were erected at night because the lift cranes, that cost $30,000 a day to operate, couldn't lift in high wind.
• The base of a wind generator is 12 feet in diameter and farmers can farm next to the base.
• The under ground base pad for each generator is 46 to 48 feet wide and buried at a depth of 12 feet.
• Flat Ridge took 400 yards of concrete to construct.