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Up and running
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"We're changing over," said Project Manager Tom Burke. "As we get our power up, we're turning things over to our operations group." Some 61 Vestas turbines capable of putting out 101 megawatts are up and running at the site near the tiny farming community of Telocaset. The turbines began operating full-time on Dec. 27. For several weeks prior, the wind farm produced "test power," starting up and shutting down intermittently. Test power continued until the wind company could meet the requirements of its contract with Idaho Power Company. "Things checked out, and now we're producing under the terms of the power agreement," Burke said. He said that in the first week of operation the turbines were producing up to 93 megawatts. But during recent severe wind storms in the area, the huge machines did not run. "We have to shut them down when the wind gets over 45 miles an hour," Burke said. The turbines are positioned on open ridges to take advantage of the strong north-northwest to southeast winds that accelerate through the area. Power is transmitted from the wind farm site to Boise via a 230,000-volt Idaho Power transmission line, and distributed among customers in Idaho. Burke said enough electricity is generated at Telocaset to power 35,000 homes. The wind farm was built with strong support from Union County government, which stands to gain substantial tax revenues over the life of the project. It is not yet known exactly how much the county will get. Estimates range between $250,000 and $750,000 a year. In 2003, the county board of commissioners hammered out an ordinance governing construction of wind facilities. At the time, three companies, Alpine Power, WWW Energy and Zilkha Renewable Energy had proposals on the drawing board. Alpine and WWW Energy abandoned their plans. Zilkha sold out to Horizon Wind Energy, which applied for and was granted the local permits to build the Elkhorn facility. The project gained traction when Goldman Sachs, a global investment management firm, acquired Horizon. With the acquisition came much-needed capital. Construction of the $150 million wind farm began last March. During the building phase, about 200 people and more than 20 local contractors were employed. They cut roads, built foundations, erected the turbines and installed an underground electrical collection system. Construction workers have been withdrawing from the job in phases and only a few are left at the site. By the end of February, all will be gone, Burke said. "We're doing our punch list items, getting things tightened down and looking after the last-minute details," he said. Counting office, maintenance and security personnel, about a dozen people will remain employed year-round. |
