WILLIAMS - Plans to build the second wind farm in Arizona, to be located just north of Williams, took a big step forward last week when Arizona Public Service Co. (APS) agreed to buy the rights to energy produced by the wind turbines.
NextEra Energy Resources, based in Florida, plans to build 62 wind turbines on the Perrin Ranch 13 miles north of Williams.
According to APS General Manager of Renewable Resources Brad Albert, a long term Power Purchase Agreement between APS and NextEra was signed last Thursday.
"We issued an RFP back in January seeking a wind project located within the state of Arizona," Albert said. "They are the one that rose to the top of the list. So, we selected them and negotiated a contract and here we are today."
Albert said APS expects the wind farm, called the Perrin Ranch Wind Energy Center, to produce 99 Megawatts of power capacity under ideal circumstances and produce enough power to serve 25,000 APS customers.
"That is like the full capability," he said. "Think of that as the wind blowing at full tilt and the maximum amount that this facility could operate."
APS expects the project, the largest of its kind in Arizona, to begin producing power sometime in 2012 with construction slated to begin in mid 2011.
Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) Chairwoman Kris Mays said there were a number of quality wind projects bidding into APS' RFP process including locations across northern Arizona.
"The Williams project appears to have led the pack," she said. "I've always believed there is some good wind to be tapped in northern Arizona. We're looking forward to seeing a project move forward. We're looking forward to reviewing the proposal."
The project has yet to complete the permitting process in Coconino County. According to Albert, APS filed with ACC for approval on Monday.
As part of APS rate increases approved last year, APS was required to include an Arizona wind project in its energy portfolio. Mays said she strongly supported the requirement.
"I was a little bit tired of seeing so many out of state projects being chosen by APS," she said. "All of the wind that is currently in APS' renewable energy portfolio is coming from New Mexico. That in and of itself is not a bad thing, but it's my view that we should be tapping into Arizona wind as well. It's Arizona rate payer dollars and we ought to be spending a good chunk of it here."
NextEra, the largest wind energy provider in North America, is a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Inc., which owns Florida Power and Light. The company does not currently have any assets located in Arizona although the company has projects in 17 states and Canada.
Steven Stengel, spokesman for NextEra, said the Perrin Ranch project will be spread over thousands of acres with each turbine taking approximately a half-acre per turbine out of service on Perrin Ranch.
"The bottom line is, the footprint is quite small relative to the total area the project would be spread over," he said. "If you put turbines too close to each other, then the issue you have is wind turbines competing for that wind."
According to Albert, the project will connect to a major joint participant transmission line, partially owned by APS, running through the property where the wind ranch will be located. The line originates from the Navajo Power Plant near Page and continues down to the northwest portion of the Valley.
Power generated by the wind project will at least in small part reach residents in Williams and the surrounding areas. Albert said power from the wind project will become a part of APS' overall portfolio.
"All of our customer base will benefit from that power," he said.
Reader Comments
Posted: Monday, August 02, 2010
Article comment by:
TAWANDA TANKERSLEY
This is an article about the current hearings being held in Rhode Island on Wind Farms.
According to this article there are no savings with wind power rather an increase in energy costs!
This along with the negative environmental impact of large turbines (noisy bird killers that destroy the pristine vistas of the open range) should cause all lovers of wide open spaces concern and to take a closer look at this "green" proposal and say NO!
Here are a few points from the article.
WIND FARM TESTIMONY PICKS UP
by Jane Vercelli, The Block Island Times, 7/31/10 www.blockislandtimes.com
"The current contract reached between Deepwater and National Grid calls for an opening price of 24.4 cents per kilowatt-hour in the first year of the farm’s operation in 2013, with annual 3.5 percent hikes during the course of the 20-year contract. The current cost for electricity from traditional sources is about 9.5 cents per kWh.
In attendance for the hearings were Germani, along with commissioners Mary E. Bray and Paul Roberti and six PUC staff members. Ten attorneys were present, representing various parties interested in the case, as well as a dozen witnesses and observers.
Crippling costs On Tuesday, Shigeru Osada, senior vice president of engineering and maintenance of Toray Plastics, which employs 600 people in Rhode Island where it manufactures thin, high technology film for industrial applications, testified that over the 20 years of the Block Island wind farm project, Toray would have to pay an additional $7.3 million in fees to National Grid.
Osada explained that of the 20 megawatts Toray needs for its Rhode Island plant, 7.5 megawatts are made by the company as a cogeneration facility producing natural gas — generated power and steam. For the rest of the electricity that Toray needs in Rhode Island, Toray goes out to bid and currently buys electricity from TransCanada....
“I feel that the PPA is totally unfair,” Osada said. “It forces 480,000 ratepayers to buy high-cost electricity for 20 years, charging an additional $390 million above market cost based on National Grid’s own estimation. This new law appears to have been enacted to subsidize one company in an attempt to guarantee their revenue for 20 years simply because their product is renewable.”
The “above market cost” of $390 million represents the amount Rhode Island ratepayers would pay over 20 years for renewable energy generated by the wind farm as compared to what they would pay for power generated through traditional means.
“Rhode Island’s economic recovery and future development will be negatively impacted by this PPA. In a free market economy, laws should not attempt to specifically guarantee one company’s revenue and profits for 20 years,” Osada said.
Dr. Edward M. Mazze, professor of business administration at the University of Rhode Island, testified that the amended PPA “will have negative consequences to commercial and industrial businesses that rely heavily on purchased energy” and predicted that it will be difficult for the state to attract new businesses and retain existing businesses that rely heavily on purchased energy.
“The Block Island project may create a few jobs, but it’s not going to have any significant [positive] impact on the Rhode Island economy,” Mazze testified. He characterized statistics that claim the wind farm would have positive economic benefits for the state as “absolutely ridiculous” and “extremely speculative.”
Outside the hearing room, state Attorney General Patrick Lynch said that for someone of Mazze’s stature to testify “so eloquently on how bad this project is for Rhode Island confirms that my position [opposing the wind farm contract] is the appropriate one for Rhode Island citizens.”
Lynch also referred to a cable to deliver electricity to Block Island, which is part of the proposed eight-turbine project. “There are other ways to establish a transmission line to Block Island,” Lynch said, adding that the cable to the island is being used as a ribbon tied in a bow around a “devastating package, which would cost the ratepayers of Rhode Island a tremendous amount of money.”
Supporters say the initial, eight-turbine wind farm within three miles off Block Island would act as a gateway to a larger 100-turbine farm farther offshore and spur a “green” industrial revolution in the state...."
The hearings resume Monday at the PUC offices in Warwick.
Posted: Monday, August 02, 2010
Article comment by:
Bruce Bloomquist
Why do I feel like the people of Williams are being sold a bill of goods? This so-called "green technology" is not an ideal solution to the energy needs of the state.
These wind farms operation are killing birds by the thousands every day. The California Energy Commission determined that the 7,000 turbines of Altamont Pass killed 60 golden eagles and 300 redtail hawks in 1989. That figure doesn't include the many smaller birds also killed.
If every one of these wind turbines is visible for even ten miles, that would mean a land area of about 100 square miles per wind turbine could be impacted. The 62 wind turbines spread out over thousands of acres would obviously impact an even larger area.
There will be aircraft warning strobes located on each tower--a twinkling sky of red beacons visible for miles in all directions.
We all know that the wind does not blow "full tilt" 24/7, so the 99 Megawatts figure is pure public relations hype--nothing more. 30% of that number is what an honest engineer would quote.
Utopia is not an option--especially when taxpayer dollars and property owners' rights are concerned. We need to slow down this runaway "gift horse", peer carefully into its mouth, and--as always--follow the money!
