What Obstacles Exist Concerning the Siting of Wind Generation?

1

• What Obstacles Exist Concerning the Siting of
  Wind Generation?
• Steve Lindenberg, Department of Energy
• NARUC Wind Siting Session
• November 14, 2007
• Anaheim, California

2
DOE Wind Program Siting Activities

• Environmental Wildlife
• Radar and Air Space
• Noise
• Property Values
• Economic Development
• 20 Vision

3
Environmental and Wildlife

• Collaboration with NWCC and USFWS
• Grassland Shrub Steppe Species Collaborative
• Cumulative population impacts
• American Wind Wildlife Institute
• Prairie birds
• Raptors and bats
• Nocturnal migration

4
Wildlife - Avian

• Bat Wind Energy Cooperative
• Partnership with utilities to monitor bat-turbine
  interaction
• DOE/NREL funding for 5 years
• Investigation of mitigation options
• Species-specific research
• Prairie chicken habitat
• Genetic diversity
• Macro issues
• Research on flyways
• Collaboration with Montana State University and
  USGS on radar databases

5
Radar and Air Space

• Wind turbines are large EMI reflectors
• Aviation Radar systems cannot easily
  discriminate between turbine blade movement and
  airplane traffic.

ENERGY TRANSMITTED BY THE RADAR IS REFLECTED OFF
OF THE BLADES GENERATOR AND TOWER AND
RETURNED TO THE RADAR AS INTERFERENCE
350-500 Ft
6
Federal Interagency Licensing and Siting
Collaborative

• Agency collaboration between DOD, DOE, DOT, DHS,
  USDA, Interior, Commerce
• Goals are to
• Streamline Existing Federal Requirements
• Top to bottom review publication of current
  requirements
• Identify agency ownership of wind siting
• Establish Coordinating Mechanism
• Executive Steering Committee of Agency
  Principals
• Provide overall guidance and resolve potential
  conflicts
• Enhance Impacts Screening Capabilities
• Increase number of tools
• Develop interactive capability
• Long Term
• Clear, timely, predictable Federal agency
  decision-making on wind siting processes

7
Siting Toolkit Process
A toolkit is being developed for use by wind
power developers and government agencies to
rapidly assess, evaluate and aid in the approval
of wind farm installations.

• Toolkit will offer
• A different module for each agency, specific to
  their needs
• Rapid preliminary evaluation of siting proposals
• Common interface for all agency evaluations
• Feedback on deficiencies and interferences

8
Noise
Noise from wind farms at 750-1000 feet is quieter
than a kitchen refrigerator.

• DOE Activities
• Air acoustics research to reduce noise levels of
  new turbines
• Noise testing IEC standards testing for
  commercial wind turbines

Source American Wind Energy Association
9
Property Values

• Fear of declining property values is one of the
  most-cited reasons for local opposition to wind
  projects. In some areas, local opposition over
  this issue is often intense, and can negatively
  influence permitting decisions.
• DOE is conducting assessments of property values
  near wind farms in the Northeast (4 locations).
• No statistically significant property value
  effects found at initial 4 locations. DOE
  continues to expand the sample size.
• So far, there is no statistically significant
  evidence that distance from the project matters.
• For more information, there will be a report on
  this issue in early 2008.

10
Economic Development ImpactsU.S. Average jobs
and impacts from 100 MW of new wind

• Property owner revenue 2,500 -
  4,000 per MW/year
• Local property tax revenue varies widely
  300,000 - 1.7 million/yr
• 100 - 200 jobs during construction
• 6 - 10 permanent OM jobs
• Local industry stimulation concrete, towers,
  roads, electrical services
• Manufacturing and assembly plants expanding in
  U.S. will increase local benefits (e.g., a new
  blade facility in CO).

Wind energy provides great potential for economic
development and jobs.
11
A New Potential for Wind Energy in the U.S.

• State of the Union Address
• We will invest more in revolutionary andwind
  technologies

Advanced Energy Initiative Areas with good wind
resources have the potential to supply up to 20
of the electricity consumption of the United
States.
12
20 Wind ReportSiting Chapter Overview

• To supply 20 of U.S. electricity, the wind
  industry
• Needs proactive, public-private, efficient
  approaches to siting
• Must advance from case-by-case to regional
  consideration
• Requires expanded scientific data bases on
  wildlife and other issues

For more in-depth information on wind turbine
siting and environmental issues, the 20 Wind
Vision document contains an entire chapter on
these issues, and will be released by the end of
the year.
13
Which issues can NARUC help with to pursue the
20 Wind Vision?
NARUC and the 20 Vision

• Transmission and System Integration
• Evolution of Markets
• Technology Advancement and Manufacturing
• Environmental and Siting Issues

14

• Thank you
• Steve Lindenberg
• Department of Energy
• steve.lindenberg_at_ee.doe.gov
• [phone]