Repowering Altamont Pass Windfarms: More Energy Output, Fewer Avian Deaths

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Written by John Egan for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--A dramatic reduction in dead birds and a significant expansion of energy production are the twin goals of a large windpower repowering project being undertaken by NextEra Energy Resources (Juno Beach, Florida) in the Altamont Pass region of California.

NextEra Energy Resources, a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Incorporated (NYSE:NEE) (Juno Beach), owns about 2,000 wind turbines in the Altamont Pass area, spanning Contra Costa and Alameda counties. The turbine-replacement program is under way in Contra Costa County, but permits have not been obtained for the company's Alameda County windfarm, NextEra Energy Resources spokesman Steven Stengel told Industrial Info.

"In our Contra Costa project, we are in the process of replacing 438 existing turbines with 34 new turbines manufactured by Siemens AG (NYSE:SI)," Stengel said. "The nameplate generating capacity will remain the same at 78.2 megawatts (MW), but the greater efficiency of the new turbines will result in a 150% increase in energy output. The wind turbine technology today is so much more efficient than it was when these turbines were originally installed."

NextEra Energy Resources will pay about $190 million to repower its Contra Costa turbines, he said. The electricity will continue to be sold to Pacific Gas & Electric (San Francisco, California), the utility unit of PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG) (San Francisco). Stengel declined to provide additional details about the price or duration of the power-purchase agreement with PG&E, but he did say, "We're a for-profit company, so if this project didn't make economic sense, we wouldn't be doing it."

Stengel was reluctant to discuss the specifics of the larger repowering planned for NextEra's windfarms in Alameda County, but he did confirm that the company was seeking permits to repower about 1,500 turbines there. He also said the company expects the same 150% gain in electric output there as it projects to reap in its Contra Costa County repowering. Because the company has not yet chosen a wind turbine supplier for its Alameda County windfarm, Stengel said he could not estimate the cost of the Alameda County project. Blattner Energy Incorporated (Avon, Minnesota) is the engineering, procurement and construction firm for NextEra's repowering project.

NextEra Energy Resources is repowering its windfarms in these two California counties pursuant to a settlement agreement it reached last December with the state attorney general and a variety of environmental organizations, Stengel said. The company's windfarm permits needed to be renewed, and a condition of renewal required the company to lower avian mortality by repowering its turbines.

"We expect there will be a significant reduction in avian mortality, perhaps as much as 80%, that will result from these repowerings," Stengel said. "That's a significant environmental benefit." Under the terms of the settlement, the repowering must be complete by the end of 2014, he added.

Environmentalists have long bemoaned the death of red-tailed hawks, golden eagles and other raptors caused by wind turbines along the Altamont Pass in eastern Alameda and Contra Costa counties. Many of those turbines, installed in the 1970s and 1980s, were about 100 feet tall. Their blades tended to spin slowly, killing many birds of prey as they hunted for food. But the newer turbines, at about 430 feet tall, spin much faster, a danger signal to those birds.

"Birds and turbines are always an issue," Michael Lynes, conservation director of the Golden Gate Audubon Society, told the San Jose Mercury News. "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."

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