In 2005, 36, tall, white wind turbines were constructed across the rolling Sandhills approximately six miles south of Ainsworth. The 131-foot blades topping the 230-foot towers capture the wind and convert it into 60 megawatts of power or enough energy to supply an average of 19,000 homes per year. Owned and operated by the Nebraska Public Power District, the state's largest wind-generating facility provides power to NPPD's customers, as well as the Omaha Public Power District, the Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska, Grand Island Utilities, and JEA of Jacksonville, Fla. The environmentally-friendly resource adds diversity to NPPD's generation mix of coal, nuclear, hydropower, and natural gas.
The Site
The site near Ainsworth has been determined to be at least a Class 5 wind site, meaning the average wind speed is approximately 19.5 miles-per-hour at an 80-meter height.
The selected site has an expected capacity factor of 40-44 percent from an intermittent resource.
In March, NPPD completed a microwave path study and verified there are no FCC-licensed paths that cross the proposed site.
NPPD has lease options with property owners on approximately 11,000 acres, six miles south of Ainsworth.
Upon construction completion, the actual amount of land taken out of production will be less than 20 acres (for roads, substations, and turbines).
Turbine Design
The Ainsworth Wind Energy Facility will be home to 36 wind towers with a 1.65 megawatt turbine size for an actual nameplate capacity of 59.4 megawatt.
Assuming a 40 percent capacity factor when the wind is blowing, the 60-megawatt wind facility will be able to generate enough electricity to serve the equivalent of 19,000 households.
NPPD expects the facility to operate beyond the 20 years stated in the contract. With proper maintenance, we expect the wind turbines to have an operating life of 30 years or more.
| Proposed turbine dimensions: | |
| Hub Height | 230 feet |
| Rotor Diameter | 269 feet |
| Blades | 131 feet |
| Foundation | Foundations are going to be a spread-footing type |
| Setback | 1,320 feet from residence; 400 feet from roadways and substation |
| Space between | 150 feet between turbines is expected |
Each wind turbine could take up to ½ an acre.
Construction
Renewable Energy Systems, the contractor hired by NPPD for the wind generation project, is an international wind development company with more than 6,000 megawatts of wind projects in various stages of development. RES has completed more than 816 wind energy projects including the 278-MW, King Mountain Project in Texas, the world’s largest wind farm at the time of construction, and the Nine Canyon Project in Washington, a 63.6 MW facility owned by Energy Northwest, a public power utility like NPPD.
The engineering, procurement and construction contract with RES includes work related to the wind turbines, the collection system (wiring to the substation) and site roads. It does not include the substation.
RES’ proposed schedule:
- Micrositing (siting of individual turbines) - Nov. ‘04
- Site investigation (including collecting soil samples and conducting soil electrical and thermal resistivity tests) - Dec. ’04 – Jan. ‘05
- Met tower installation – Jan. ‘05
- Transmission line work – Jan. – June ‘05
- Mobilization of contractor – Feb. – March ‘05
- Wind turbine construction start – March ‘05
- Energize substation – April ‘05
- Delivery of turbines – June ‘05
- First wind turbine operational – July ‘05
- Commercial operation – Aug. ‘05
Number of employees is expected to range from 10 to 20 at beginning and increase to 50+ when construction is in full swing.
Costs
NPPD is financing the capital cost of the NPPD Wind Energy Facility with the issuance of 20-year fixed rate bonds and plans to also depreciate the facilities over a period of 20 years.
The project is budgeted at $81.3 million. Studies conducted by NPPD determined the capital cost projections and estimated total rate impact for both a 60-megawatt and 75-megawatt wind facility would be:
- 60 MW: $81.3 M @$1,355/kW .28%
- 75 MW: $99.9M @$1,332/kW .39%
- No project: $0.0 M (rate decrease) -.22%
Project costs include: escalation; taxes; permit fees; Interest During Construction; administrative costs; plant and substation; external substation and transmission modifications; spare parts; initial operations and maintenance staffing; training and equipment; land; NPPD labor to commercial operation; planning costs; startup services; project management, contingency and management reserve.
The Wind Turbine operations and maintenance staffing will range from 2 to 4 full time employees and other part-time resources from the areas of energy supply, transmission services, logistics, environmental, land management, and work management.
Cost comparisons for other renewable projects are:
- 1.5 MW Springview: $1,400/MW
- Methane: $1,000 - $2,000/MW (w/o grant)
- Solar: $4,000+/MW
- Small Head Hydro: $2,000 - $3,000/MW (EPRI)
NPPD will own the facility. The public power entities involved in the project have long-term contracts covering costs of their participation in the project through 20-year contracts.
Participating Public Power Entities
Omaha Public Power District, Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska, and the City of Grand Island are participants. The participants pay for a proportionate share of the actual costs of constructing and operating the facility and also receive the proportionate share of the benefits from Renewable Energy Production Incentives or Renewable Energy Credits, if available.
JEA, a public power utility in Jacksonville, Florida, has a 20-year agreement with NPPD, beginning in 2005, to purchase 10 megawatts of capacity and associated energy from the Ainsworth Wind Energy Facility. NPPD has also agreed to repurchase JEA’s share of energy from the wind energy facility so that physical delivery of the energy to JEA is not expected. JEA retains the benefits from Renewable Energy Production Incentives or Renewable Energy Credits for the 10 MW purchase, if available.
