Vol. 3, No. 19
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August 1, 2006
Nevada's Online State News Journal
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Feature Story:
Wind Generated Electricity May Be In Your Future
Several Hundred Scientists, Officials Study The Subject In Reno Confab
(This is another in our continuing series of articles dealing with alternative and renewable sources for energy in Nevada. Nevada is and has been lacking in the development of alternative energy sources despite the fact that alternative energy resources are available in large quantities.)
by Johnny Gunn
Is there a place for wind in Nevada's power grid? Two days of debate and discussion were held at Harrah's Casino Hotel in Reno on July 26 and 27, and the general consensus seems to be, yes, but with some caveats. Among the problems that those promoting wind as a source of electrical energy agree on is transmission of the power to the grid, and the fact that wind is not always a constant factor. Among those not totally sold on the idea of wind as a renewable resource is aesthetics and danger to wild life in particular hawks, owls, and eagles.
Larry Flowers, described by one speaker as Mr. Wind and representing the Wind Powering America organization discussed wind power on the national scale, and used Nevada as examples in his dissertation. "Europe," he said, "leads the world in wind power generation." He said that in the U.S. less than one percent of energy generation comes from wind. The generation of power is generally discussed in terms such as mega-watts of power. One MW would be enough to power about 250 homes for a year.
According to Flowers, the U.S. is looking to have about 20 percent of power generated by the wind in the next several years while Nevada is hoping to have about 5-10 percent. One reason there is so much attention being paid to alternative energy sources such as wind, geothermal, solar, even nuclear is the volatility of other forms of energy. While there is probably enough coal available in this country to last another 20 years, the cost of natural gas fluctuates radically and cannot be depended on in the future. Carl Linvill, Energy Advisor to Governor Kenny Guinn said, "We need sources such as wind as a protection from future energy crises."
Linvill hosted the conference and heads the Nevada Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Task Force in the state. The Task Force coordinates activities and programs with the Nevada State Office of Energy, the Attorney General's bureau of Consumer Protection, the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada and other federal, state, and local offices and agencies involved in renewable energy, energy conservation, and energy efficiency. Linvill indicated he hoped Nevada power officials would be proactive in their approach to energy developed through wind power.
It was pointed out that one of the difficulties facing those that wish to use wind to make electrical energy is the source of that wind. In Europe the wind turbines and their tall pylons are placed nearest transmission lines, which is not the most efficient. The Desert Research Institute has been studying several locations in Nevada to determine how best to place the wind farms. Getting the most efficiency based on the wind itself and building transmission lines to a grid system is what most at the conference would like to see.
Anyone who has been in Nevada for more than an hour is aware that wind is available, but for those seeking to use wind for the generation of electrical energy, there is more to the story. Darko Koracin of the Desert Research Institute, part of the state university system discussed how areas can be found where wind is a constant factor. Wind blowing 40-miles-per-hour for a while, then becoming calm, then roaring back to life is not what is needed for a wind generating plant or system. The systems are most often called wind farms.
Generally speaking the wind driven turbines are in rural areas and often not close to existing transmission lines. Ecologists and others have traditionally been against the building of transmission lines through wildland areas, which put them in a position of arguing against themselves in some cases. Energy developed from wind ranks right up there with solar power when it comes to the environment. The two are the cleanest forms of energy development known. But it is transmission lines that will be needed if Nevada is to join in the Wind industry.
Major transmission lines exist in Nevada and others are either being built or being planned, but generally they are designed to move electrical energy around the state from outside sources and from Nevada's primary energy sources, coal and natural gas fired generating plants. Secondary lines from wind farms will have to be built to join with the existing grid.
In farm areas of the mid west, ranchers have installed individual units on their property to provide power for everything from pumps to irrigation systems, even to powering the farm house and barns. Of course this isn't the least bit new. Almost every farm or ranch picture from the early days of agriculture in this country shows a windmill sitting over a well head. 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.
When electricity was made available to rural areas the wind mill became obsolete, but with the cost of electricity being high and the price less than steady, the old wind mill is coming back into play in a big way. Thousands of megawatts of power are generated on farms and ranches in this country, and as with solar, the excess is sold to the local power company reducing the cost even further. Some rural landowners in other states are faring better by taking advantage of this new cash crop; electricity from the wind. Minnesota has more than 300 megawatts of installed wind power and the opportunity to implement several thousand more over the next 20 years.
California with 2,150 megawatts and Texas with 1,995 megawatts are the two states with the most wind-generated power. Nevada at this time has no wind operations in place. Wind farms will generate an estimated 25 billion kilowatt-hours this year, and that is less than one percent of the total U.S. power generation. According to the American Wind Energy Association, that amount of power generated by coal fired plants would emit 15 million tons of carbon dioxide. The wind plants emit none. There are no emissions of toxic chemicals from wind turbines, and there is no over-use of ecologically sensitive materials in the building of a turbine or its use. Wind joins solar in being the cleanest form of energy production there is.
The outlook for regional economic growth from wind energy is good according to DOE. During the next 20 years, achieving the goals of the DOE's Wind Powering America initiative will create $60 billion in capital investment in rural American, provide $1.2 billion in new income for farmers and rural landowners, and create 80,000 new jobs. There are savings to businesses at the local level throughout Nevada according to a recent release from the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada's Celeste Eisenberg. "Local companies looking for ways to protect the environment while improving their bottom line will learn how the growing trend of green building can benefit their business at the EDAWN Morning Business Buzz event August 31."
According to a recent poll, 77 percent of Americans are concerned about the environment. Eisenberg says that Craig Sheehy, director of property management for the Sacramento-based Thomas Properties Group, LLC, will present strategies and low cost/no cost operational efficiencies to improve a company's revenue and maximize its resources.
Why should Nevada power companies and state officials be interested in developing wind farms in the area? The question was answered succinctly by one state official who said, "We're going to run out of oil, coal, and natural gas at some point. We are not going to run out of wind and sunshine." Sierra Pacific Resources, the parent company of Nevada Power in southern Nevada and Sierra Pacific Power Co. in the north, says most wind farm operations will be built and operated by outside firms with the power in turn sold to Sierra Pacific Resources. The same scheme is used by geothermal and solar operations in Nevada.
There is also a benefit to local communities by way of taxes. Property tax, sales tax, and other revenue will benefit counties and the state. Wind farms create a number of jobs during construction and the building of transmission lines to handle the new load also creates jobs and taxes.
Representatives from the DOE, BLM, and U.S. Forest Service were on hand to discuss how wind farms would fit into their plans and programs. Licenses, leases, and permits will play a large part in putting wind farms on public land. The military was also heard during the two day event, in particular discussing how the tall wind mills might hamper air operations and other problems putting wind farms on military land.
BLM announced recently that following the passage of the energy Policy Act of 2005 they have issued 25 geothermal exploration leases in Nevada. That compares with a total of 25 issued nationwide during the previous five years. Geothermal production faces the same site problems as wind power plants in that they have to be built in specific locations that may not be near transmission lines for distribution.
No one at the conference expected to see wind or any other renewable resource overwhelm such mainstays in energy production as coal, oil, and natural gas, but most believe the time has come for utilities and government to realize the potential for developing other sources of energy that are clean and bring no heavy burden with them: wind, solar, geothermal. 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. The program at this time is well behind schedule.
Wind assessment areas are being investigated as discussed by Desert Research scientist Darko Koracin using towers as high as 100 meters to measure the intensity, duration, and direction of winds. At least one wind farm is being discussed for an area in White Pine County, another in Washoe County near Gerlach, and there are indications that an area in Nye County near Stone Cabin may also be potentially acceptable.
In the world today there are at least 28,000 wind mill turbines in operation generating 7.8 billion-kilowatt hours of energy annually. Europe leads with the most but for a single concentration of wind mills, it is the Altamont Pass area of northern California that leads the world with 6,000 turbines operating.
There are a number of web sites that we can recommend for further study on the matter:
• U.S. Department of Energy Wind Program
http://www.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro
• Wind Powering America
http://www.windpoweringamerica.gov
• American Wind Energy Association
• National Renewable energy Laboratory
• National Wind Coordinating Committee
• Windustry Project
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