Renewable Energy, Arizona’s First Wind Farm

danny.clark — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 07:44:40 +0000

Earlier this year (2009), construction began on the first renewable energy wind farm in Arizona. The project is owned and maintained by Iberdrola Renewables and went online earlier this month (Aug. 2009). The electricity produced by the first phase of the wind project will serve 15,000 homes. 100% of the 63MW of electricity produced by the 30 wind turbines will be purchased by Salt River Project (SRP).

ENSO Bottles took a tour of the Dry Lake Wind Farm and was onsite during the first power tests to SRP. We highly recommend touring the facility, the Iberdrola maintenance staff are very knowledgeable and friendly.

The Dry Lake Wind Farm has a total of 30 wind turbines with each turbine capable of producing approximately 2.5MW of electricity. Each wind turbine tower is approximately 280’ high with the tip of the blade standing at 400’ high. The average wind speed in the area is 4 meters/sec with the turbines able to produce electricity down to 2 meters/sec.

The energy from the wind farm will travel on existing Arizona Public Service Co. power lines to Cholla Power Plant, owned by APS. Then it will travel on Salt River Project’s lines to Coronado Generating Station, which SRP owns. From Coronado, the energy will use existing power lines to get to SRP customers in the Phoenix area.

This area in Arizona is an ideal location for such a project as it is flat, desolate and constantly windy. Phase two of Dry Lake Wind Farm has already been approved which will add another 30 wind turbines. The construction for phase two will begin in 2010 and will also go online that same year.

This is a fantastic addition to Arizona as it shows our commitment to green and clean energy solutions.

Danny Clark
ENSO Bottles, LLC
866-936-3676

Web: www.ensobottles.com

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Renewable Energy, Arizona’s First Wind Farm