Alternative Power Sources Abound In The Silver State

Legendary Washoe Zephyr Being Looked At Around The State

When the California '49ers heard about the immense silver strike in Utah Territory in 1859, a Rush to Washoe began that swelled the flanks of Mt. Davidson by 20,000 souls or so, and the area became known around the world as The Comstock Lode and Virginia City. In most history books, we read about the vicious winds that swept down that mountain, up those canyons, and swirled right to the very bones of those trying their best to get rich.

Humor was a mainstay of mining camps - think how dreary and lonely life would have been without it - and the men called these gale and cyclone force winds Washoe Zephyrs. A zephyr by definition is a light and soft breeze. Not in Nevada.

This is another article in our continuing investigation of alternative power sources in Nevada. In an earlier story in Vol.2, No.1, October 31, 2004, we took a long look at solar and geothermal energy currently being utilized, and some of the locations around the state where the power source use could be increased. In this report, we will take a look at wind as an energy source.

Windmills have been used as a power source for hundreds if not thousands of years. Think Don Quixote and his angry run-in with one. In the Netherlands, windmills were used to pump the lowland water out. Those lowlands, called Polders, are what give the Netherlands their special place in the world today.

Grinding grain, pumping wells, and generating electricity is the primary function of windmills, and today, there is a push in Nevada to build what are commonly called wind farms. Discussions are being held dealing with a potential farm in White Pine County, another in Washoe County near Gerlach and the Black Rock Desert, and yet a third, possibly near enough to Carson City to be used as an alternate source for the capital city.

According to Mark Harris, resource-planning engineer with the state public utilities commission, there are numerous sites around the state permitted to do wind assessment studies. These incorporate 50 to 100 foot towers that measure velocity, whether or not the wind blows fairly constantly, and, "what we look for is nearness of power lines. Old mine sites are perfect because there is generally power transmission lines nearby."

Nevada law calls for energy providers to increase the use of renewable power sources by at least two percent every other year until the provider's portfolio accounts for at least 15 percent of its total energy sales by 2013.

In a state known for wind, why has this taken so long for the concept of wind farms to come to the fore? Experts tell us that it is the unknown of winds that make electric power generation difficult to maintain from a windmill. The winds come and go, get strong enough to lift a Washoe Canary right off its feet, and get soft enough to evoke poetry, but simply can't be counted on to be constant.

According to Harris, "There is a need for diversity in power generation, and there are plants for solar, geothermal, and wind generation being discussed around the state. New plants are expensive." Except for the few alternative power sources, Nevada depends on coal and natural gas for electric power generation. The only other source would be nuclear power generation.

There are other arguments against the use of wind farms and their high-in-the-sky turbines. They are unsightly, for one, and they kill thousands of birds, for another. For discussions on wind farms in Great Britain, go to www.wind-farm.org. For a look at wind farms around the world, go to www.ilr.tu-berlin.de/WKA/windfarm.html. The federal Department of Energy (DOE) also maintains a web site that offers news releases on wind generated power: www.eere.energy.gov/news.

In the world today there are some 28,000 windmill turbines in operation generating 7.8 billion kilowatt hours of energy annually. Six thousand of those units are located in the Altamont Pass area of California, southeast of San Francisco. According information available from ilr.tu-berlin, that is the highest concentration of windmill turbines anywhere in the world. They go on to say that even though there are fewer turbines in the Tehachapi/Mojave area of Southern California, the Tehachapi area generates more electricity.

There is a move afoot in the Altamont region to phase out older turbines because of the thousands of birds that are killed annually flying into the massive wind-driven blades. Most of those killed are raptors hunting in the area of the windmills. It seems, according to federal wildlife officials that the older windmills are built low enough that the blades churn through the same air the birds use in their hunting. Hawks, eagles, owls, and other raptors spend months every year in that area.

Federal wildlife officials are recommending the windmills be built taller so the birds will hunt in an area below the blades. In the meantime, newer turbines produce more electricity than their older counterparts, so the Altamont area could become even more efficient, and kill many fewer birds.

At this time there are no wind farms in Nevada, but that could be changing. A company calling itself Energy Nevada is attempting to establish a partnership between itself, Sierra Pacific Power Company, Carson City, and other political entities for the distribution of wind powered electricity. Go to www.energynevada.com for a complete look at what they are attempting.

One group looking to get into the business of generating power from windmills is Energy Nevada, a division of Princeton Development Corporation. The have contracted with an international builder of windmills, Nordic Wind of Great Britain, to build the turbines. Energy Nevada also has a contract with Carson City and other government agencies to provide electricity. They are currently looking to contract with Sierra Pacific Power Company to purchase whatever excess power their wind farm generates.

Nordic Wind builds windmills that are two bladed and move much slower than the older models that have been in use in the Altamont Pass area and other wind farm sites around the world. According to Harris, "The higher towers, slower turning blades, and some paint colors on the blades should protect the migrating raptors." Nordic Wind says their turbines are very efficient.

For more information on Energy Nevada and the Nordic Wind turbines, go to www.energynevada.com. For information at the national level, go to www.nationalwind.org.

There is considerable effort to know as much as possible about the possible use of wind for electric power generation in Nevada. The federal Department of Energy (DOE), Desert Research Institute (DRI), and UNLV are working together to build a map of wind prone areas of the state, a map that will include wind measurements.

According to Harris, much information on wind prone areas is already known because of maps and research done by fire agencies in their quest for wildfire protection.

The Nevada Public Utilities Commission in a unanimous 3-0 vote approved rebates for residential and business customers that have installed solar systems. The plan adopted by the Commission calls for rebates of $5 per watt with a maximum rebate to private residences of $25,000 and to businesses, $15,000.

The Commission is looking ways to help independent power developers such as those looking build wind farms, those developing solar energy generation, and those building geothermal plants get financing and development costs.

The Nevada Renewable energy and Conservation Task Force is behind the efforts, and the Commission acted on their recommendation. The Nevada Legislature, under a bill sponsored by Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani (D-Las Vegas), established the program. The program is filled for this current session, and the next rebate period, the figure per watt will drop to $4.00.

Among the companies looking to get financing help for projects is Ely Wind, to build a wind farm on a ridge overlooking Ely, and a solar plant to be built by Solargenix in the Eldorado Valley in southern Nevada.