Oregon to build world's largest wind farm

[Amelia]

Oregon to build world's largest wind farm

July 25, 2008

By DAVID KROUGH

kgw.com

SALEM, Ore. -- A new wind farm has won approval in Oregon.

The Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council on Friday approved a site certificate for the Shepherds Flat Wind Farm in Gilliam and Morrow counties.

The farm sitting on private land will host 303 wind turbines and the largest single wind farm in the world.

The 909-megawatt facility will double Oregon’s current wind operating capacity, officials said.

“We have taken a large step toward meeting Governor Kulongoski’s climate change goals by developing clean, renewable energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” Michael Grainey, Director of the Oregon Department of Energy, said.

The farm will employ 250 to 300 people during construction and have up to 25 operational jobs.

“This is a boost to economic development in rural Oregon,” Grainey said.

The largest currently operating wind farm in the U.S. is Horse Hollow in Texas.

[doctorj]

Good idea. I recently saw a windmill farm in New Zealand near Palmerston North. It is awesome to see it in operation and to understand how electricity can be generated so cleanly.

[Norman Byers, N.D.]

Hi Amelia,

I have heard (but have not researched yet) that there is no real advantage in these wind mills because they are backed up with Gas motors for the times when the wind stops blowing. They apparently use quite a bit of fuel to keep them going and there really is no gain in them.

The person said that this is all the results of the histeria over man made global warning which has no foundation.

Norman

[Dr. Shane]

Wind farms do have to be backed up by some other form of power generation. However that doesn't mean they are all for nothing. The more wind farms we have, the less power we generate from natural gas and coal. It is that simple. Wind farms cannot completely replace natural gas and coal because something is needed to back them up. However the wind blows a lot and wind farms are able to capture it and turn it into electricity. That means we can dramatically reduce the amount of natural gas and coal we are burning for electricity.

There are other sources to back up wind power like nuclear power and methane gas is being developed. These are cleaner alternatives to coal and natural gas.