Wind Today - Q1 2008 - (Page 30)

Cattle jostle for position in the shade created by the wind turbines at the Elk River Wind Farm. The footprint of the wind farm, including 20 miles of gravel access roads, is only 2% of the land mass. It’s all grazing land, with oil wells existing on the property. Construction When PPM Energy bought the project, they signed a 20-year contract with the Empire District Electric Company, Joplin, MO (417-625-5100), to purchase electricity from the wind farm. PPM Energy broke ground for the Elk River Wind Farm in May 2005. M.A. Mortenson, Minneapolis, MN (952-8322600), managed the civil infrastructure, foundations, and turbine erection for this project. According to Jan Johnson, communications coordinator, PPM Energy, each wind turbine foundation consists of a concrete octagonal spread footing 48 feet in diameter, with a 16-foot diameter pedestal which is 7.5 feet deep from the top of the pedestal to the base of the foundation. Each foundation has 140 anchor bolts, each 8 feet long and 1-1/4 inch diameter. The volume of concrete used is 248 cubic yards per turbine. Christenson Electric, Portland, OR (503-492-3300), handled the collection system and tower wiring, and PAR Electrical Contractors, Kansas City, MO (816-691-4228), built the substation, switching station, and transmission lines. Johnson says a 4.2 mile transmission line connects the project substation to the interconnection substation at Latham, KS. The collector substation has two power transformer bays (34.5 to 345 kV) with a switchgear enclosure housing six 34.5 kV breakers to a six-circuit collector feeder system. The collection system consists of the six circuits and 575 V/34.5 kV generator step up (GSU) transformers at each turbine. “During peak construction, the project workforce totaled approximately 200 The Elk River Wind Farm is located in Butler County, KS, approximately 45 miles east of Wichita, near Beaumont. people,” says Johnson. She says O&M employs 8 to 10 full-time personnel. The entire project was completed and generating electricity by December 15, 2005. Landowner Pete Ferrell, whose ranch has been in his family since 1888, chose to receive a royalty based on output as payment for the use of his land. According to Ferrell, the wind turbines have had almost no impact on his ranching activities. “On a hot day, the black cattle line up in the turbine’s shade and create a ‘cattle sundial’,” says Ferrell. “They push and shove under the turbine’s shade, pretty much in a straight line.” Ferrell says the cattle don’t notice the turbines, and their performance has been unaffected. Management Ryan Orban moved to Kansas from Minnesota to accept his position as plant manager at the Elk River Wind Farm on June 11, 2007. A 10-year veteran of the wind industry, 28-year-old Orban is a secondgeneration wind energy professional. When Orban was four years old, his father worked at Zond Wind Energy in California. (Zond was later taken over by Enron whose assets are now owned by GE Energy.) Orban’s career has included work at Zond, GE Energy, Suzlon, and now PPM Energy. According to Orban, the two-year warranty with GE Energy at the Elk River Wind Farm is set to expire, so PPM Energy is taking steps to perform future O&M services themselves. “This is a 20-year site,” says Orban. “We want to make sure the wind farm runs the best it can off of our own metrics.” Orban says most O&M concerns are based on availability of the turbines, but PPM Energy also looks at reliability—how often the wind turbines run in production winds without faulting. WIND TODA Y First Quarter 2008 Beaumont, KS Fifty of the 100 Elk River wind turbines operate on Pete Ferrell’s property. 30

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Wind Today - Q1 2008

Wind Today - Q1 2008 Contents Windpower 2008 U.S. Energy Map Canada Energy Map Global Report Options and Expectations for O&M Service Providers O&M Safety Issues for Wind Farms Guanting Wind Farm to Power 2008 Olympics Operating Economics of Wind Farms Long-Term Operating Costs Post-Warranty Energy Bill Incentives May Have Another Chance Wind Gears: A Closer Look at the Drive Train Elk River Wind Farm Should Lightning Be A Concern For Wind Farms? Interview: Steve Sawyer Zephyr Powers Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort WT News: United States & Canada Interview: Willett Kempton Centennial Wind Energy WT Transmission: Southwest Power Pool EPA's Top 25 Wind Power Projects 2008 RPS Update Mark Scher, MSE Power Systems Richard Legault, Helimax Second Wind Henkels & McCoy NRG Systems Apterra Technologies, Inc. Wind Resource Maps: Michigan and New York Calendar Glossary Product Surveys Ad Index

Wind Today - Q1 2008

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