Altamont Pass Wind Farm

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Altamont Pass Wind Farm
Altamont Wind Turbines 7-11-09.JPG
Turbines near Livermore, California
Country United States of America
Location Altamont Pass, Alameda County, California
Coordinates 37°43′57″N121°39′9″W / 37.73250°N 121.65250°W / 37.73250; -121.65250 Coordinates: 37°43′57″N121°39′9″W / 37.73250°N 121.65250°W / 37.73250; -121.65250
Commission date 1981
Power generation
Units operational4930
Nameplate capacity 576 MW
Annual net output 1.1 TWh
Wind turbines dot the landscape as Interstate 580 passes through the Altamont Pass Wind Farm Kluft-Photo-Aerial-I580-Altamont-Pass-Img 0037.jpg
Wind turbines dot the landscape as Interstate 580 passes through the Altamont Pass Wind Farm
Older wind turbines Wind energy converter5.jpg
Older wind turbines

The Altamont Pass Wind Farm is located in the Altamont Pass of the Diablo Range in Northern California. It is one of the earliest wind farms in the United States. The first wind turbines were placed on the Altamont in the early 1980s by Fayette Manufacturing Corporation on land owned by cattle rancher Joe Jess. [1] The wind farm is composed of 4930 [2] relatively small wind turbines of various types, making it at one time the largest wind farm in the world in terms of capacity. Altamont Pass is still one of the largest concentration of wind turbines in the world, with a capacity of 576 megawatts (MW), producing about 125 MW on average and 1.1 terawatt-hours (TWh) yearly. [3] They were installed after the 1970s energy crisis in response to favorable tax policies for investors.

Altamont Pass mountain pass

Altamont Pass, formerly Livermore Pass, is a low mountain pass in the Diablo Range of Northern California between Livermore in the Livermore Valley and Tracy in the San Joaquin Valley. The name is actually applied to two distinct but nearby crossings of the range. The lower of the two, at an elevation of 741 ft (226 m), carries two railroad rights-of-way (ROWs) and Altamont Pass Road, part of the old Lincoln Highway and the original alignment of US 50 before it was bypassed c. 1937. The bypass route travels over the higher summit, at 1,009 ft (308 m), and now carries Interstate 580, a major regional highway heavily congested by Central Valley suburbanization.

Diablo Range mountain range in California, United States of America

The Diablo Range is a mountain range in the California Coast Ranges subdivision of the Pacific Coast Ranges. It is located in the eastern San Francisco Bay area south to the Salinas Valley area of northern California, the United States.

Northern California Place in California, United States

Northern California is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties its main population centers include the San Francisco Bay Area, the Greater Sacramento area, and the Metropolitan Fresno area. Northern California also contains redwood forests, along with the Sierra Nevada, including Yosemite Valley and part of Lake Tahoe, Mount Shasta, and most of the Central Valley, one of the world's most productive agricultural regions.

Contents

In the media

When the first windfarms appeared in 1981, on the Altamont hills alongside the Altamont Pass portion of the I-580 freeway, the appearance of the modern windmill generated media excitement and public interest. This portion of the freeway was an increasingly used corridor for growing the bedroom communities of Tracy, Lodi and Modesto serving the Bay Area of California (Oakland, San Francisco and Pleasanton). Daily commuters crowded past the otherwise barren cattle ranches for several hours each day.

By 1985, the Altamont Pass was crowded with over 26 different windfarms. The increased visibility from the nearby I-580 freeway, which had once sparked the media and community's interest, was now widely regarded as a growing eyesore. Successful windfarms at the Altamont Pass encouraged the development of further industrial wind areas in southern California. These windfarms, in the Tehachapi Pass, led to wider recognition, after windmills played a role as a prominent backdrop in several feature films of the mid- and late 1980s including a 1985 film based on the Bret Easton Ellis novel Less Than Zero , featuring Andrew McCarthy and Robert Downey, Jr.

Southern California Place in California, United States

Southern California is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises California's southernmost counties, and is the second most populous urban agglomeration in the United States. The region is traditionally described as eight counties, based on demographics and economic ties: Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and Ventura. The more extensive 10-county definition, which includes Kern and San Luis Obispo counties, is also used and is based on historical political divisions.

Tehachapi Pass

Tehachapi Pass is a mountain pass crossing the Tehachapi Mountains in Kern County, California in the United States. Traditionally, the pass marks the northeast end of the Tehachapis and the south end of the Sierra Nevada range.

Bret Easton Ellis American novelist

Bret Easton Ellis is an American author, screenwriter, and short story writer. His works have been translated into 27 languages. He was at first regarded as one of the so-called literary Brat Pack, which also included Tama Janowitz and Jay McInerney. He is a self-proclaimed satirist whose trademark technique, as a writer, is the expression of extreme acts and opinions in an affectless style. Ellis employs a technique of linking novels with common, recurring characters.

Environmental effects

The small turbines used at Altamont are dangerous to various raptors that hunt California ground squirrels in the area. 1300 raptors are killed annually, among them 70 golden eagles, which are federally protected; in total, 4700 birds are killed annually. [4] Overall there has been an 80% decline in golden eagles in Northern California, with no golden eagles nesting near the facility, although it is a prime habitat. [5] Considered largely obsolete, these numerous small turbines are being gradually replaced with much larger and more cost-effective units. The larger units rotate at a much lower RPM to the previous turbines, and, being elevated higher, are claimed to be less hazardous to the local wildlife. This claim is supported by a report done for the Bonneville Power Administration. [6]

Bird of prey species of bird that primarily hunt and feed on vertebrates that are large relative to the hunter

Birds of prey, or raptors, include species of bird that primarily hunt and feed on vertebrates that are large relative to the hunter. Additionally, they have keen eyesight for detecting food at a distance or during flight, strong feet equipped with talons for grasping or killing prey, and powerful, curved beaks for tearing flesh. The term raptor is derived from the Latin word rapio, meaning to seize or take by force. In addition to hunting live prey, most also eat carrion, at least occasionally, and vultures and condors eat carrion as their main food source.

California ground squirrel species of mammal

The California ground squirrel, also known as the Beechey ground squirrel, is a common and easily observed ground squirrel of the western United States and the Baja California Peninsula; it is common in Oregon and California and its range has relatively recently extended into Washington and northwestern Nevada. Formerly placed in Spermophilus, as Spermophilus beecheyi, it was reclassified in Otospermophilus in 2009 as it became clear that Spermophilus as previously defined was not a natural (monophyletic) group. A full species account was published for this species in 2016.

Golden eagle species of bird of prey

The golden eagle is one of the best-known birds of prey in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. These birds are dark brown, with lighter golden-brown plumage on their napes. Immature eagles of this species typically have white on the tail and often have white markings on the wings. Golden eagles use their agility and speed combined with powerful feet and massive, sharp talons to snatch up a variety of prey, mainly hares, rabbits, marmots and other ground squirrels.

As of 2010, a settlement has been reached between the Audubon Society, Californians for Renewable Energy and NextEra Energy Resources (who operate some 5,000 turbines in the area). Nearly half of the smaller turbines will be replaced by newer, more bird-friendly models. The project was expected to be complete by 2015 and included $2.5 million for raptor habitat restoration. [7]

Repowering

In 2015, NextEra - which owns some of the 100kw Kenetech/US Windpower older turbines installed during the 1980s - agreed to remove the machines and replace them with 48 new model wind turbines. A power purchase agreement has been completed to power the Googleplex office complex in nearby Mountain View, California. The process of removing old wind turbines and replacing them with newer machines is called repowering. [8]

Googleplex building complex in California, United States

The Googleplex is the corporate headquarters complex of Google and its parent company Alphabet Inc. It is located at 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway in Mountain View, California, United States, near San Jose.

Mountain View, California City in California, United States

Mountain View is a city located in Santa Clara County, California, United States, named for its views of the Santa Cruz Mountains. From its origins as a stagecoach stop, it grew to a large suburb with a pedestrian-friendly downtown and a population of 74,066. The city borders Palo Alto and the San Francisco Bay to the north, Los Altos to the south, and Moffett Federal Airfield and Sunnyvale to the east.

A portion of the wind energy center is being dismantled as of 2016. Altamont Winds Inc (AWI)'s 83MW of 100kW Kenetech turbines are being taken down. These are older models with lattice towers. It has been proposed to replace them with 27 turbines with rated capacity of 2.1MW each (56.7MW total). [9]

See also

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Muppandal is a small village on the southern tip of India in Kanyakumari District, in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is located in a hilly region where wind from the Arabian Sea gusts through mountain passes.

Montezuma Hills

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Tehachapi Pass wind farm wind farm in the United States

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References

  1. ↑ "Lodi News-Sentinel - Google News Archive Search".
  2. ↑ "California Wind Energy Association: Fast Facts about California Wind Energy". www.calwea.org. Archived from the original on 2012-02-03. Retrieved 2011-02-23.
  3. ↑ "Altamont Pass, California - Encyclopedia of Earth". www.eoearth.org. Archived from the original on 19 May 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-02.
  4. ↑ Bogo, Jennifer (September 14, 2007). "How the Deadliest Wind Farm Can Save the Birds: Green Machines". Popular Mechanics. Archived from the original on June 4, 2009. Retrieved July 14, 2011.
  5. ↑ Paul Driessen (22 December 2012). "DRIESSEN: Big Wind tax credit exterminates endangered species". Washington Times. Retrieved 29 December 2012. In an 86-square-mile area blanketed by the Altamont wind facility, no eagles have nested for more than 20 years even though the area is prime habitat, Mr. Wiegand says. Overall, there has been an 80 percent population decline for the golden eagle in Southern California, he notes.
  6. ↑ "Synthesis and Comparison of Baseline Avian and Bat Use, Raptor Nesting and Mortality Information from Proposed and Existing Wind Developments" (PDF). www.bpa.gov. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 August 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-07.
  7. ↑ Andrew Dalton (December 7, 2010). Altamont Pass to Get Less-Deadly Wind Turbines Archived 2013-04-16 at the Wayback Machine .sfist.
  8. ↑ O'Brien, Matt (2016-08-12). "Google buys Altamont wind energy to power Googleplex". The Mercury News. Retrieved 2018-10-21.
  9. ↑ "Dismantling under way at Altamont Pass". Windpower Monthly. Windpower Monthly. Retrieved 16 March 2016.

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