Iconic Wind Farm Gets New Turbines to Reduce Bird Mortality
By Christopher Kolomitz, EUCI Replacement of nearly 2,000 wind turbines at one of the country's oldest and most iconic wind farms in California aims to reduce the mortality of birds at the Altamont Pass site. Manufactured by Siemens, each of the new 2.3 megawatt turbines will replace the 100-foot turbines that generate just 50 to 750 kilowatts of power. The "repowering" effort is being done in phases, with the competition date set for 2015. According to the San Jose Mercury News, for every one new turbine installed, 23 of the older, shorter turbines will be replaced. In total, about 100 new turbines that stand 430 feet tall will be installed, and the height and design of the turbines is expected to help reduce the number of birds killed. "It's almost a complete revolution in the way that you capture the wind," Anthony Pedroni of NextEra Energy Resource told the newspaper. "The new turbines are 430 feet tall from the base to the tip of the blade, and the higher you go, the faster the wind speeds are." NextEra owns about half of the turbines at the 50,000 acre Altamont location. The site was first developed in the late 1970s and once had almost 6,000 turbines on the hilly landscape which captures strong Pacific Ocean winds. The site is also an important migratory bird corridor and a favorite spot for raptors to spend the winter. One expert said he estimated about 2,000 raptors are killed each year with as many as 8,000 other birds and bats, the paper reported. The repowering effort comes after more than a decade of efforts by local environmental groups, state agencies, and NextEra to reduce the mortality rates. "Birds and turbines are always an issue," said Michael Lynes, conservation director of the Golden Gate Audubon Society. "The best way to reduce avian mortality while keeping wind power in the Altamont is repowering with fewer turbines, and this is a step in the right direction. But we're always sober about it, because there will still be impacts to birds and bats." At issue is the construction of the older turbines, which includes a lattice structure that is a perfect spot for raptors to perch and scan the land for prey. "When they are diving and swooping down on their prey, they're not focused on turbines," Lynes said. Other wind developers are considering similar repowering efforts in the region as well. ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
