October 9, 2024 |
Photo – Wind turbines – Bigfoot99 file photo
County commissioners have approved Power Company of Wyoming’s request to modify the number of turbines and postpone the operational start date of the Chokecherry and Sierra Madre wind energy projects.
Power Company of Wyoming has been working on the nation’s largest wind turbine farm, located south of Rawlins and Sinclair, since 2014. At the October 1st Board of Carbon County commissioners meeting, Planning and Development Coordinator Kristy Rowan presented a permit amendment application for the Chokecherry and Sierra Madre wind turbine project. Rowan explained that Power Company of Wyoming is asking to use fewer, more powerful turbines, and push back the energy production start date by five years. Rowan said everything else about the project remains unchanged.
When operational, Rowan said the Chokecherry and Sierra Madre wind farms could generate up to 3,750 megawatts of electricity. The new larger turbine blades will be as long as two and a half football fields.
Rowan said the county’s Planning and Development Commission has recommended approving the permit amendment request.
Power Company of Wyoming Chief Operating Officer Roxane Perruso began by thanking the commissioners for the support they have given the Chokecherry and Sierra Madre projects over the past decade.
Perruso explained that PCW is asking for two major changes to the conditional use permit issued by the county. The first change is to push back the date the wind farms must go online. The second change, Perruso said, is to allow Power Company of Wyoming to use fewer, but more efficient wind turbines.
Perruso reiterated that nothing else about the project is expected to change. The chief operating officer said Carbon County is still the best onshore wind energy production site in North America.
Power Company of Wyoming Vice President of Engineering and Construction Ryan Jacobson said the Chokecherry and Sierra Madre wind farms were designed in 2012.
Since that time, Jacobson said wind turbine technology had become more efficient. The project can use 378 fewer wind turbines and still meet the goal of producing at least 3,500 megawatts of electricity.
Jacobson said the new, more efficient turbines are physically larger than those originally planned for the project. For that reason, Jacobson said the project area remains unchanged despite the lower number of turbines.
Next, Chief Operating Officer Perruso addressed why Power Company of Wyoming is requesting a deadline extension from this year to 2029. Perruso said the Chokecherry and Sierra Madre wind farm has contracted with TransWest Express to move the electricity out of Carbon County to sites in southern Nevada. Perruso said the power transmission lines are not expected to be completed until the middle of 2029.
The permit amendment application says the Chokecherry and Sierra Madre wind farms will begin generating electricity on June 1st, 2029. Perruso explained that the specific date comes from a signed contract with the electrical equipment supplier, Siemens.
Perruso said for those reasons, Power Company of Wyoming believes that approval of the permit amendment application is warranted.
Commissioner John Johnson asked if bird strikes will occur more often with the larger turbine blades. Perruso said both the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Land Management show that lowering the number of turbines by 40% will also reduce eagle fatalities by the same percentage.
Perruso assured the Carbon County Commissioners that even with the proposed changes, the project will continue to meet all state and federal conservation requirements.
The board of commissioners agreed to grant Power Company of Wyoming’s permit amendment request. Commissioner John Espy abstained from the vote due to a conflict of interest.
