Biglow Canyon Wind Farm is an electricity generating wind farm

Wind farm

A wind farm is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electric power. A large wind farm may consist of several hundred individual wind turbines, and cover an extended area of hundreds of square miles, but the land between the turbines may be used for agricultural or other...

 facility in Sherman County, Oregon

Sherman County, Oregon

Sherman County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oregon. The county is named for William Tecumseh Sherman, a Union general in the American Civil War. In 2010, its population was 1,765. The seat of the county is Moro. The largest city is Wasco....

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It is owned by Portland, Oregon

Portland, Oregon

Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

, based Portland General Electric

Portland General Electric

Portland General Electric is an electrical utility based in Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon. It distributes electricity to customers in parts of Multnomah, Clackamas, Marion, Yamhill, Washington, and Polk counties - half of the inhabitants of Oregon...

 and began operations in 2007. With the completion of phase 3 of the project it has a generating capacity of 450 megawatts. It is located roughly five miles (8 km) northeast of Wasco, Oregon

Wasco, Oregon

Wasco is a city in Sherman County, Oregon, United States. The population was 381 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land.-Demographics:...

, and about ten miles (16 km) southeast of Rufus, Oregon

Rufus, Oregon

Rufus is a city in Sherman County, Oregon, United States. The population was 268 at the 2000 census. The city was named for an early settler, Rufus Carrol Wallis.-Geography:...

. Biglow Canyon Wind Farm covers 25000 acres (101.2 km²) in the Columbia River Gorge

Columbia River Gorge

The Columbia River Gorge is a canyon of the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Up to deep, the canyon stretches for over as the river winds westward through the Cascade Range forming the boundary between the State of Washington to the north and Oregon to the south...

.

History

In 2005, Orion Energy announced plans to develop a 450-megawatt wind farm with 225 turbines at Biglow Canyon in the Columbia River Gorge, at the time the largest project of its kind in Oregon. Portland General Electric (PGE) acquired Orion’s development right to the $200 million project in 2006. In November 2006, PGE purchased the first 76 turbines for the project from Vestas

Vestas

Vestas Wind Systems A/S is a Danish manufacturer, seller, installer, and servicer of wind turbines. It is the largest in the world, but due to very rapid growth of its competitors, its market share decreased from 28% in 2007 to 12.5% in 2009...

, with the project cost increasing to an estimated $256 million for the first phase. PGE broke ground on the site in February 2007. In the middle of October 2007, ten Vestas V82 wind turbine

Wind turbine

A wind turbine is a device that converts kinetic energy from the wind into mechanical energy. If the mechanical energy is used to produce electricity, the device may be called a wind generator or wind charger. If the mechanical energy is used to drive machinery, such as for grinding grain or...

s were energized to produce the first electricity at Biglow. The last of the 76 turbines in the first-phase of the wind farm development became operational in December 2007.

The turbines for phase 2 and 3 were purchased from Siemens Energy

Siemens

Siemens may refer toSiemens, a German family name carried by generations of telecommunications industrialists, including:* Werner von Siemens , inventor, founder of Siemens AG...

. There will be 141 SWT-2.3-93 turbines, with a capacity of 2.3 MW each. Phase 2 of the project was completed in August 2009, adding 65 turbines to the wind farm. The expansion brought generating capacity to 275 megawatts. Phase 3 will add an additional 76 wind turbines, with the cost of phases two and three totaling $700 to $800 million. Phase 3 will complete the project and allow for a maximum generating capacity of 450 megawatts, though the anticipated generation is estimated to average 150 megawatts. The final phase was completed in September 2010, with the project totaling 217 turbines at a cost $1 billion.

Operations

The Biglow Canyon Wind Farm has an installed capacity of 275 megawatts. Additional phases, planned for construction in 2009 and 2010, are expected to bring its total generating capacity to between 400 and 450 megawatts. The site covers 25000 acres (101.2 km²) in Sherman County. The wind farm uses a feeder transmission line from the canyon to high-voltage transmission lines via a power substation located near The Dalles

The Dalles, Oregon

The Dalles is the largest city and county seat of Wasco County, Oregon, United States. The name of the city comes from the French word dalle The Dalles is the largest city and county seat of Wasco County, Oregon, United States. The name of the city comes from the French word dalle The Dalles is...

. PGE does not own this line. Additionally, the line connects this and other wind farms to the Bonneville Power Administration

Bonneville Power Administration

The Bonneville Power Administration is an American federal agency based in the Pacific Northwest. BPA was created by an act of Congress in 1937 to market electric power from the Bonneville Dam located on the Columbia River and to construct facilities necessary to transmit that power...

 run power grid built for use with the hydroelectric dams on the Columbia River

Columbia River

The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, flows northwest and then south into the U.S. state of Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state...

.

Certification

The facility is authorized to install up to 225 wind turbines totaling 450 MW and averaging 150 MW distributed over 25000 acres (101.2 km²). Each turbine's supporting tower must be 265 – tall; combined with windmill blades, each unit may be 400 – in height. The turbines may be aligned in up to 30 corridors 500 feet (152.4 m) wide on private farmland leased from the appropriate landowners. The initial construction—termed phase I—provides a completed capacity of 125 MW or enough to power 34,000 homes. Phase I cost some $250 million. Energy Trust of Oregon, Inc. contributed $6 million.

Turbine output is around 600 VAC

VAC

VAC or Vac may refer to:In arts and entertainment* Velvet Acid Christ, an industrial band* Video Appeals Committee in the United Kingdom, responsible for hearing appeals against decisions by the British Board of Film Classification...

 and is converted to 34.5 kV by a transformer

Transformer

A transformer is a device that transfers electrical energy from one circuit to another through inductively coupled conductors—the transformer's coils. A varying current in the first or primary winding creates a varying magnetic flux in the transformer's core and thus a varying magnetic field...

 at the base of each tower. The output is gathered by a substation

Electrical substation

A substation is a part of an electrical generation, transmission, and distribution system. Substations transform voltage from high to low, or the reverse, or perform any of several other important functions...

 which combines the individual turbine contributions. Most collector cabling and associated control and monitoring fiber optic cable (up to 99 miles) is buried 3 foot (0.9144 m) underground. Exceptions are made for aerial cables to span terrain such as canyon

Canyon

A canyon or gorge is a deep ravine between cliffs often carved from the landscape by a river. Rivers have a natural tendency to reach a baseline elevation, which is the same elevation as the body of water it will eventually drain into. This forms a canyon. Most canyons were formed by a process of...

s, wetland

Wetland

A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions....

s, and cultivated areas to protect the environment. Up to 15 miles (24.1 km) of aerial cabling is permitted. Bonneville Power Administration

Bonneville Power Administration

The Bonneville Power Administration is an American federal agency based in the Pacific Northwest. BPA was created by an act of Congress in 1937 to market electric power from the Bonneville Dam located on the Columbia River and to construct facilities necessary to transmit that power...

 built a 12 mile 230 kV transmission line to collect the power. It has capacity for an expected additional 450 MW from two other proposed wind farms in Sherman County.

The substation may be up to 6 acres (24,281.2 m²) including transformers, switching equipment, maintenance shops, control room, and offices. As many as ten meteorological observation towers up to 279 ft (85 m) are allowed throughout the wind farm to collect wind resource data. Construction must be completed by June 30, 2011.

Visual impact restrictions are in force for the John Day Wildlife Refuge, John Day Wild and Scenic River, and the John Day State Scenic Waterway (from Parish Creek to Tumwater Falls). Wildlife protection must be provided for nesting bald eagle

Bald Eagle

The Bald Eagle is a bird of prey found in North America. It is the national bird and symbol of the United States of America. This sea eagle has two known sub-species and forms a species pair with the White-tailed Eagle...

s, peregrine falcon

Peregrine Falcon

The Peregrine Falcon , also known as the Peregrine, and historically as the Duck Hawk in North America, is a widespread bird of prey in the family Falconidae. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-gray back, barred white underparts, and a black head and "moustache"...

s, Swainson's hawk, golden eagle

Golden Eagle

The Golden Eagle is one of the best known birds of prey in the Northern Hemisphere. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. Once widespread across the Holarctic, it has disappeared from many of the more heavily populated areas...

, Burrowing owl, Ferruginous hawk

Ferruginous Hawk

The Ferruginous Hawk , Buteo regalis , is a large bird of prey. It is not a true hawk like sparrowhawks or goshawks, but rather belongs to the broad-winged buteo hawks, known as "buzzards" in Europe...

 and minimization of harm to other wildlife. Noise levels during construction and operation of the facility must not contribute more than 50 dBA

Sound pressure

Sound pressure or acoustic pressure is the local pressure deviation from the ambient atmospheric pressure caused by a sound wave. Sound pressure can be measured using a microphone in air and a hydrophone in water...

at 24 identified noise sensitive sites.

External links

• Oregon DOE: all Oregon certificates for Biglow Canyon Wind Farm