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By Chris Mulick, Tri-City Herald, Kennewick, Wash.
Energy Northwest is planning to expand its Nine Canyon Wind Project south of the Tri-Cities for a second time and appears to have enough interest to build a second project near Reardan. Both may be contingent upon the public power consortium's ability to gain access to zero-interest federal bonds authorized for environmentally friendly power projects in last year's federal energy bill. But interest in wind power, at least partly due to the prospect of a citizens initiative being approved this fall requiring large utilities to buy prescribed amounts of green power, has swelled enough to make them viable. "It's starting out to be kind of a lightning rod," Dave Kobus, in charge of developing wind projects at Energy Northwest, said of Initiative 937. Washingtonians for Energy Security has hired paid signature gatherers to collect 225,000 valid signatures by July 7 to put I-937 on the fall ballot. The organization had raised more than $204,000 through February. "With that proposed initiative, we're looking at more renewable resources," said Franklin PUD Manager Jean Ryckman. "If we can find renewable resources that are cost effective, we're interested." Franklin PUD has expressed interest in the Nine Canyon and Reardan projects. Already, Nine Canyon is budgeted to generate about 20 average megawatts. Energy Northwest, which also operates the nuclear power station north of Richland, wants to add 14 new turbines in several locations on the project site that could boost total output to near 30 average megawatts. The new turbines would be larger than the existing ones. Those stand roughly 200 feet-high from the base to rotor and have a generating capacity of 1.3 mega-watts. The new turbines would spin on towers closer to 260-feet-high with a generating capacity of 2.3 megawatts, though at least some will be placed in locations with lower elevations. "Their location and terrain are likely to make them no more visible than existing turbines," Energy Northwest spokesman Brad Peck said. The existing project has underperformed during the past two fiscal years due to below average wind conditions, producing roughly 14 percent fewer megawatt hours than expected during an average year. But Energy Northwest believes the fact that seven of Nine Canyon's nine utility customers have expressed interest in the expansion is a better indicator of the wind farm's success. "It's a true vote of confidence," Kobus said. There wasn't much utility interest in the Reardan project when Energy Northwest's governing board approved it last fall but that has changed since. If built, it likely would generate about 15 average megawatts on a site west of Spokane. Energy Northwest believes it has enough interest in the project to build it and is applying for the new zero-interest renewable energy bonds to partially finance construction of both projects. ----- To see more of the Tri-City Herald, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.tri-cityherald.com. Copyright (c) 2006, Tri-City Herald, Kennewick, Wash. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. |