- Wild Horse Wind Farm
The Wild Horse Wind Farm is a 229-megawatt
wind farm built byPuget Sound Energy that consists of 127 1.8-megawatt Vestas V80 turbines on a convert|8600|acre|ha|adj=on site inKittitas County, Washington , 15 miles east ofEllensburg, Washington . The turbines are placed on the high open ridge tops ofWhiskey Dick Mountain , which was chosen for its energetic wind resource, remote location, and access to nearby power transmission lines. The towers are 221 feet tall, and the diameter of each rotor is 264 feet, larger than the wingspan of a Boeing 747. The turbines can begin producing electricity with wind speeds as low as 9 mph and reach full production at 31 mph. They shut down at sustained wind speeds of 56 mph. Average annual output is about 642,000 MWh. [ [http://www.pse.com/energyEnvironment/energysupply/pages/EnergySupply_ElectricityWind.aspx?tab=3&chapter=1 Wild Horse Wind Facility] ]The wind farm was built by
Horizon Wind Energy , a subsidiary of Energias de Portugal S.A. (EDP), a world leading Portuguese utility. Construction began in October 2005 and was completed in December 2006.There has been an application from Puget Sound Energy to add an additional 25 turbines. If approved these are planned to be active in 2010.ee also
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Wind farm
*Wind power in the United States The Wild Horse Wind Farm also has a Renewable Energy Center that is open to the public everyday April 1st thru November 30th from 9:00-5:30.References
External links
* [http://www.acppubs.com/article/CA6361831.html Construction History of Wild Horse Wind Power Project]
* [http://www.horizonwind.com/projects/whatwevedone/wildhorse.aspx Wild Horse Wind Farm] page on Horizon Wind Energy site
* [http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420ap_wa_wind_farm.html] Expansion plans
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