Wind power in Arizona

Kingman
Perrin Ranch
Red Horse
Wind power projects in Arizona
  Operating
  Under construction

As of 2016, Arizona has 268 megawatts (MW) of wind powered electricity generating capacity, producing 0.5% of in-state generated electricity.[1]

History

Utility-scale wind power in Arizona began in 2009 with the commissioning of the first phase of the Dry Lake Wind Power Project[2][3] in Navajo County.

Installed capacity and wind resources

The following table compares the growth in wind power installed nameplate capacity in MW for Arizona and the entire United States since 2005.[3]

Year Arizona US
2005 0 9,149
2006 0 11,603
2007 0 16,819
2008 0 25,170
2009 63 35,159
2010 128 40,180
2011 138 46,919
2012 238 60,005
2013 238 61,110
2014 238 65,877
2015 268 72,472
Installed capacity by state as of 2015 (animated map of installed capacity growth)
Average annual wind power density map for Arizona at 50m above ground

Arizona has the potential to install up to 10.9 GW of onshore wind power nameplate capacity at 80 meter, 74.4 GW at 110 meter, or 191.0 GW at 140 meter hub height, generating 585 TWh annually.[4][5][6] For comparison, Arizona consumed 69.391 TWh of electricity in 2005;[7][8] the entire U.S. wind power industry was producing at an annual rate of approximately 50 TWh at the end of 2008; Arizona's Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station produced 26.782 TWh in 2007; and Three Gorges Dam (the world's largest electricity-generating station) produced an average of 80 TWh/yr in 2008 and 2009.

Wind farms

Dry Lake Wind Power Project in Navajo County is Arizona's first utility-scale wind farm. Phase 1 consists of 30 Suzlon 2.1 MW wind turbines, for a total nameplate capacity of 63 MW.[2][3] Iberdrola Renewables built the wind farm for $100 million,[2] and sells the output to Salt River Project.

As of 2012, BP Wind Energy of North America proposes building the Mohave County Wind Farm project comprising up to 258 wind turbines on federally managed lands in Mohave County. The site – about 49,000 acres of public land – is in the White Hills area about 40 miles northwest of Kingman and 20 miles southeast of Hoover Dam. The project should have up to 500 MW of capacity and construction may be in phases. Transmission lines are planned to connect to existing Western Area Power Administration lines.[9]

  • Kingman Wind Farm, built in 2011, has 10 MW of wind turbines.[10]
  • Perrin Ranch Wind Farm in Coconino County began operation in 2012 with 62 wind turbines, generating 99.2 MW of electricity.[11]
  • Fort Huachuca has an 850 KW two blade wind turbine installed in 2011.[12]
  • Red Horse 2 Wind and Solar Project has 30 MW of wind turbines installed in 2015.[13]

SilverWind Power Corporation / Worsley

During latter part of 2018, SilverWind Power Corporation intends to be funded for certain wind studies conducted on private leased lands north of Joseph City, AZ. This will be done to ascertain if the site is suitable for a total nameplate capacity 200 MW wind farm north of Joseph City, AZ.

CEO David Jason Silver, 30-years in the realestate business and Bob Worsley who was the founder of Skymall met at Worsley's home in 2015 discussing the project. Worsley is business partners with William Herbert Hunt and other Hunt Family members. No details has been discussed as to Silver and Worsely relationship with the project, to date. Big player in the wind farm business, Garrad Hassan who merged with mega conglomerate DNV GL headquartered out of Høvik, Norway. DNV.GL is the largest in the World, when it comes to wind energy assessments. Its former company Garrad Hassan has provided data estimates indicating their interests in conducting certain studies in Arizona. Silver is very confident with DNV GL resources and its 300 offices in over 100 countries Worldwide that SilverWind Phase 1 will be built in 2019-2020. Estimates of $200-$300 million for completion of Phase 1 are anticipated. Enercon E-126 will be number #1 wind turbine selection for erecting the Phase 1. Cost per turbine is estimated to be in the ball park of $14 million before installation of the Enercon E-126. Higher transportation costs and new tariffs could increase that figure slightly.

Arizona Public Service will be the potential provider purchasing the power from SilverWind. Currently, APS has numerous lines in the immediate area. Winslow sub-station 69 KV, near Holbrook, AZ there is a 345 KV and 230 KV all of which could connect to SilverWind. Moreover, certain laws and regulations in Arizona have been established that regulates power companies. Power companies will need certain amount of renewables in their portfolio, to be in compliance with state law through 2020.

SilverWind will look at all avenues, including erecting its own power lines if negotiatons fail, with any power company that is currently in the area. CEO Silver {"I am willing do be fair with all, providing the project will be profitable, If power lines are needed additional $50-$100 million will be budgeted and slated in SilverWind Phase 1"}.

Small-scale wind power

The ASU School of Sustainability

Flagstaff is the home of Southwest Windpower.

The ASU School of Sustainability in Tempe, Arizona features an array of small wind turbines on its roof, with real-time data available to the public through the ASU Campus Metabolism[14] web site.

Environmental impact

According to the USDOE, each 1000 MW of wind power capacity installed in Arizona will annually save 818 million gallons of water and eliminate 2.0 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions.[15]

For comparison, Arizona emitted a total of 101,510,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2007.[16]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Arizona Wind Energy" (PDF). U.S. Wind Energy State Facts. American Wind Energy Association. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 Randazzo, Ryan (2009-05-12). "Harvesting Arizona wind". Arizona Republic. Retrieved 2010-05-04.
  3. 1 2 3 "U.S. Wind Energy Projects - Arizona". American Wind Energy Association. 2009-12-31. Retrieved 2010-05-04.
  4. ↑ "Estimates of Windy Land Area and Wind Energy Potential by State for Areas >= 30% Capacity Factor at 80m" (XLS). National Renewable Energy Laboratory. 2010-02-04. Retrieved 2010-05-06.
  5. ↑ "Arizona Wind Activities". National Renewable Energy Laboratory. 2010-02-19. Retrieved 2010-05-06.
  6. ↑ "Arizona Wind Resource Map and Potential Wind Capacity". Department of Energy's Wind Program. 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2016-03-06.
  7. ↑ "Electric Power and Renewable Energy in Arizona". USDOE, EERE. 2008-06-25. Retrieved 2010-05-06.
  8. ↑ "Arizona Quick Facts". USDOE, EIA. 2010-05-06. Retrieved 2010-05-06.
  9. ↑ Bureau of Land Management (2011-09-27). "Mohave County Wind Farm Project".
  10. ↑ 5 Wind Turbines Are Up South Of Kingman
  11. ↑ Perrin Ranch Wind Energy Center
  12. ↑ Military Budget Blowing Away?
  13. ↑ Big wind farm starts producing electricity for Tucson
  14. ↑ Campus Metabolism
  15. ↑ Lantz, Eric; Tegen, Suzanne (October 2008). "Economic Benefits, Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Emissions Reductions, and Water Conservation Benefits from 1,000 Megawatts (MW) of New Wind Power in Arizona" (PDF, 514kB). EERE, NREL. Retrieved 2010-05-06.
  16. ↑ CO2 Emissions from Fossil Fuel Combustion - Million Metric Tons CO2
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