White Hills wind farm explained
KINGMAN – BP Wind Energy held three public meetings last week with the Bureau of Land Management to inform the public about its plans for a 500-megawatt wind farm near White Hills.
White Hills is located about 40 miles north of Kingman on U.S. 93. The farm would have up to 335 wind turbines generating between 1.5 and 3 megawatts of power each, depending on the wind speed, said BP Wind Energy Business Development Director Daniel Runyan. Each turbine can detect and turn itself into the wind.
The turbines start generating electricity at about 12 mph. They reach peak efficiency at around 22 to 30 mph. Past that point, the turbine blades start to feather in order to bleed off some of the wind energy and prevent damage to the turbine, he said. The turbines shut down completely when winds reach more than 50 mph.
Each turbine would stand 263 feet tall from the ground to the rotor hub, with the rotors adding another 157 feet. The rotors sweep a 300-foot diameter and make 18 revolutions per minute, Runyan said.
The project would be built in phases, with the first phase of 235 turbines built in one year. It would cost around $1 billion and generate approximately 100 to 400 construction jobs and 10 to 30 permanent jobs at the site. The average salary for a permanent job would be about $50,000, Runyan said. It would last about 30 years before being decommissioned.
Because a large portion of the project will be built on approximately 44,860 acres of BLM land, an environmental impact study will have to be completed before the project can be built. Last week’s three public meetings are part of that 18- to 24-month study process, which includes collecting public comments and concerns on the project.
According to Runyan, the company and BLM have been collecting wind and other environmental data in the area for the past four years.
Runyan described how the turbines would be shipped into the county and then assembled at the site. One of the challenges the company faces is finding roads and bridges strong enough to carry the weight of some of the parts as they are delivered to the job site, he said.
The company has eight similar wind farms scattered throughout the country.
When asked what affect the wind farm would have on local property values, Runyan said he couldn’t say. There are studies available that say wind farms have a negative effect, while others say they have no effect.
He also agreed that there would be some noise while the turbines were operating, and the turbines could kill some birds and bats, but they would likely have no effect on large game animals, such as deer. BP and BLM are still working on wildlife studies.
BP does maintain setbacks from the edge of the wind farm property in order to minimize the effect on property values and noise on neighbors, he said.
Runyan did not know if the energy produced by the wind farm would be used in Mohave County or Arizona.
BLM will accept comments on the project throughout the EIS process but is asking residents with concerns to get them in as early as possible so that they can act on the suggestions. For more information on the project, visit www.blm.gov/az/st/en.html or call Jerry Crockford at (505) 360-0473.
Comments can be e-mailed to KFO_WindEnergy@blm.gov or mailed to the BLM Kingman Field Office, Joyce Cook, Realty Specialist, 2755 Mission Blvd., Kingman AZ 86401.
Suzanne Adams, Miner Staff Reporter
The Kingman Daily Miner
14 December 2009
Tags: Wind power, Wind energy
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