Developing a Wind Farm. Bill Whitlock, June 26, 2008 Bloomington, IL

Transcription

1 Developing a Wind Farm Bill Whitlock, June 26, 2008 Bloomington, IL

2 Overview Horizon Wind Energy Overview Project Devlopment Process Developing a Wind Farm, Horizon Wind Energy s Twin Groves Wind Farm Wind Farm Construction Photographs 2

3 Horizon Wind Energy overview Who We Are Our Projects Horizon Wind Energy develops, constructs, owns and operates wind farms throughout North America Currently part of EDP Renovaveis, a worldwide leading renewable energy company Originally created as Zilkha Renewable Energy, and renamed Horizon Wind Energy in 2005 Blue Canyon OK: 225MW Lone Star TX: 400MW Maple Ridge NY: 322MW Over 225 employees, headquartered in Houston and with regional development offices in New York, Oregon, California, Colorado, Minnesota and Illinois Twin Groves IL: 396MW Has developed over 2000MW of wind farms and currently operates over 1500MW Ranked #3 by wind installed capacity in 2007 Elkhorn Valley OR: 101MW Prairie Star MN: 101MW Ranked #2 by commissioned wind capacity during 2007 Madison NY: 12MW 3

4 Global Wind Ranking 4

5 Horizon Wind Energy geographical presence 5

6 Overview Horizon Wind Energy Overview Project Devlopment Process Developing a Wind Farm, Horizon Wind Energy s Twin Groves Wind Farm Wind Farm Construction Photographs 6

7 Project Development Process Find a windy site Determine who owns the land within the prospect boundaries Make sure the site has nearby transmission lines Contact the landowners Define the boundaries Call a town meeting Settle the contracts Draw up blueprints Watch the wind Get the necessary permits Perform environmental analyses Test the wires Sell the electricity Begin construction Wind farm is operational 7

8 Project Development Process Find a windy site Horizon Wind Energy performs meteorological investigations all over the country and the world looking for sites where the average wind speed is appropriate for the turbines to be used Make sure the site has nearby transmission lines It s not enough to find wind There has to be a way to transport the electricity generated by a wind farm to a main power grid Define the boundaries After we find a windy place that s near a power grid, we define the boundaries of the prospect area 8

9 Project Development Process Determine who owns the land within the prospect boundaries The owners of the land within the prospect boundaries are our potential partners Property owners are identified through plat books and assessor s records Contact the landowners In order to gauge interest in wind farm development, Horizon Wind Energy contacts the landowners about the possibility of a partnership Informational materials are sent to landowners Call a town meeting If there are many landowners in the same area, a town meeting helps us explain the ins and outs of wind farm royalty payments and natural resource management 9

10 Project Development Process Settle the contracts Horizon Wind Energy and the landowners negotiate agreements for test towers and options for lease agreements Draw up blueprints Horizon Wind Energy lays out potential wind farm configurations to give landowners an idea of where the turbines might be placed A map of the project area is prepared Residence and road surveys are performed to meet setback requirements Watch the wind Horizon Wind Energy monitors the wind for 6 months to 2 years to corroborate our data with publicly available wind data 10

11 Project Development Process Get the necessary permits While testing the wind s power, we re also acquiring the necessary permits at the federal, state, and county levels Work closely with local government on local community issues Identify and resolve points of concern Perform environmental analyses We want to ensure the safety of local wildlife and the environment Horizon performs environmental analyses at every wind farm location Test the wires Testing grid connections is very important, so we perform additional transmission research 11

12 Project Development Process Sell the electricity Begin construction Because of the huge upfront cost, projects are feasible only after a customer, such as a large utility, has committed to a long-term energy purchase of 10 to 20 years in duration Like just about all other wind energy companies, we cannot build our projects until we find a customer Construction usually takes about 9 months to a year Work with landowners to minimize land disturbance Build roads and erect turbines Establish the electrical and engineering work to connect the turbines to the grid Wind farm is operational Wind turbines and access roads occupy less than 2% of the land in a typical wind farm 12

13 Overview Horizon Wind Energy Overview Project Devlopment Process Developing a Wind Farm, Horizon Wind Energy s Twin Groves Wind Farm Wind Farm Construction Photographs 13

14 Why Illinois? Why now? Illinois long thought to be lower wind resource New technology able to take advantage of Illinois winds Robust transmission grid Proximity to load centers Market changes Illinois RES 14

15 Developing a Wind Farm Horizon Wind Energy s Twin Groves Wind Farm Bill Whitlock Development Director 15

16 Initial Steps Find a windy site McLean County, IL Site has access to transmission lines 16

17 Property Owner Identification Project boundaries defined Property owners identified through plat books and assessor s records Send out informational material to landowners Held several town meetings Signed option and lease agreements with property owners Map project area/perform residence and road survey to meet setback requirements 17

18 Early Stage Development Watch the wind Perform Studies Avian and wildlife studies Communication/television studies IDNR and USFWS consultations Airport flight path studies Environmental and wetland studies Historical and archaeological studies Noise and sound analysis Road and transportation studies Transmission line/interconnection studies 18

19 Interconnection Agreement Testing the Wires MISO/ PJM Queues Must first obtain Queue position and Queue Entry Date Feasibility Study- 6-9 months System Impact Studies 6-9 months Facilities Studies 6-12 months Interconnection Agreement Negotiation Schedule 6-9 months Typically can takes several years to get through the PJM Queue. MISO Queue can take even longer 19

20 Late Stage Development Engineering & Design Transportation Plan Aerial Mapping Surveying Core/Drill (Geotech) Sampling Road & Turbine Micrositing Collection System Layout & Design Foundation Design Substation Design Construction 20

21 Overview Horizon Wind Energy Overview Project Devlopment Process Developing a Wind Farm, Horizon Wind Energy s Twin Groves Wind Farm Wind Farm Construction Photographs 21

22 Wind Farm Construction Photographs Size of Turbines Lowest ground clearance is about 125 ft Turbine footprint is small (typically 2/3 to 3/4 acre including turbine access roads) 390 ft. TIP 125 ft. 260 ft TOWER 22

23 C Typical Turbine Footprint VIEW FROM ABOVE apx. 100 ft. CRANE PAD TOWER apx. 30 ft. GRAVEL ACCESS ROAD apx. 20 ft. wide 1000 to 2000 ft. long UNDERGROUND Cable Trench (3 ft. wide, 4 ft. deep) 23

24 Turbine Foundation 24

25 Turbine Foundation 25

26 Turbine Foundation 26

27 Turbine Nacelle 27

28 Tower Section Transport 28

29 Blade Transport 29

30 Blade Transport 30

31 Turbine Hub and Blades 31

32 500 ton crane 32

33 Turbine Access Road 33

34 Turbine Erection 34

35 Erected Turbines 35

36 Wide Community Participation 130 different landowners in Twin Groves I who have leased land to us for turbines Over 30 different landowners granted overhead transmission easements Over 50 different landowners granted underground distribution easements Over 70 different landowners granted ROW easements for road improvements Over 50 different landowners signed to neighbor agreements 36

37 Environmental Benefits Based on average EPA-generated 2004 emissions rates, a 400 MW Wind Farm would displace annually: 3,579 tons of NOx 6,541 tons of SO2 1,467,615tons of CO pounds of mercury 62,231 pounds of volatile organic compounds 185,397 pounds of particulate matter 37

38 Post Construction Considerations Avian and Bat fatality monitoring Separate Tax parcel Creation Creation of As Built surveys Determine and resolve any Easement Encroachments Transition from Construction to Operations 38

39 Questions & Answers 39