Wind turbines in a field at Tehachapi Pass, California.
July 10, 2002 -- In a QuickVote survey on Power Engineering's web site last week, the majority of respondents did not correctly answer that the largest wind farm in the U.S. (in terms of generating capacity) is the King Mountain Clean Energy Center near Odessa, Texas. King Mountain can generate up to 278 MW of wind energy.
The QuickVote, which ran from July 1 through July 10 on http://www.power-eng.com, is not a scientific survey, but is merely an informal way to gauge the opinions of the readers.
Most of the respondents (about 57 percent) chose Green Ridge Altamont in Altamont Pass, Calif. as the largest-capacity wind farm in the U.S. King Mountain came in second place, with about a third of the votes. About 10 percent thought Stateline Clean Energy Center near Walla Walla, Wash., was the largest farm, and less than one percent voted for Wyoming Wind Energy Project at Foote Creek Rim, Wyo.
Here are capacities of each wind farm offered as an answer in the QuickVote, according to statistics provided by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA).
• The Stateline Clean Energy Center near Walla Walla, Wash., owned by FPL Energy and Vansycle, has a combined capacity of 263 MW. The farm went online in Dec. 2001. The owner is already planning to expand the farm to 300 MW. (More on this project is at http://www.ppmenergy.com/about_state.html)
• The King Mountain Clean Energy Center near Odessa, Texas, is currently the largest wind farm with a capacity of 278 MW. King Mountain is owned by FPL Energy and it also went into operation in Dec. 2001. (Description available at http://www.bonus.dk/uk/projekter/index.html)
• Green Ridge Altamont in Altamont Pass, Calif., has 165 MW of capacity, according to owner FPL Energy. The farm went into partial service in 1983 and it reached its current capacity in 1994. (Project information can be found at http://www.fplenergy.com/aboutfpl/wind-greenridge.htm)
• The Wyoming Wind Energy Project at Foote Creek Rim, Wyo., has 41 MW of capacity. PacifiCorp owns about 80% of the project and the Eugene (Ore.) Water and Electric Board (EWEB) owns the rest. The farm was put into operation in May 1999. (Information available at http://www.awea.org/news/wpa12.html)
An interactive map of wind projects throughout the U.S. is available on AWEA's web site at http://www.awea.org/projects/index.html.
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