The Shepherds Flat Wind Farm is an 845

megawatt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...

(MW)

wind farm A wind farm or wind park, also called a wind power station or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundred wind turb ...

in the eastern part of U.S. state of

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

, near Arlington, in both Gilliam and

Morrow Morrow is a word meaning "the next day" in literary English. It also means "morning" in archaic English Morrow may also refer to: Places in the United States and Canada United States * Morrow, Arkansas *Morrow, Georgia * Morrow, Louisiana *Morr ...

counties. Groundbreaking occurred in 2009, and it officially opened in September 2012. The wind farm was built by Caithness Energy using

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable en ...

GE2.5XL 2.5 MW

wind turbine A wind turbine is a device that converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. Hundreds of thousands of large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, now generate over 650 gigawatts of power, with 60 GW added each yea ...

s, and it supplies electricity to

Southern California Edison Southern California Edison (or SCE Corp), the largest subsidiary of Edison International, is the primary electricity supply company for much of Southern California. It provides 15 million people with electricity across a service territory of ap ...

. The wind farm is estimated to have an economic impact of $16 million annually for Oregon. It is one of the largest land-based wind farms in the world.

Details

The wind farm is located in

eastern Oregon Eastern Oregon is the eastern part of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is not an officially recognized geographic entity; thus, the boundaries of the region vary according to context. It is sometimes understood to include only the eight easternmost ...

in both Morrow and Gilliam counties, with the majority of the turbines in the latter. Oregon provided tax incentives to the developer to help land the facility, but the project is expected to provide Gilliam County with about $5 million annually in taxes and fees when it is operating. Shepherds Flat is entirely on private property approximately southeast of the city of Arlington between Oregon Route 19 and

Oregon Route 74 Oregon Route 74 is an Oregon, U.S. state highway running from Interstate 84 in Gilliam County to U.S. Route 395 in Umatilla County. OR 74 is known as the Heppner Highway No. 52 (see Oregon highways and routes The state highway system of the ...

. Construction on the project was expected to employ 400 people to build of power lines and of roads on the wind farm. Plans for the project first came in 2002 for a 105 megawatt project, with the plan changed to larger project in 2004. The project was then submitted to the state in 2006 with plans to have the first phase online in 2008. Early plans called for 303 turbines and a generating capacity of 909

megawatts The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wat ...

. At the time, it would have doubled the capacity for wind-generated power in Oregon. The farm is divided into several sections, with the

Willow Creek Wind Farm Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist so ...

between two of the larger segments. Approved in 2008 by state regulators, groundbreaking came in 2009. The project design now includes 338 GE2.5XL turbines built by GE Wind Energy, each with a capacity to produce 2.5 megawatts, and used for the first time in United States. These turbines and a ten-year service contract cost a total of $1.4 billion, the largest expense on the estimated $2 billion project. In December 2010, the

Department of Energy A Ministry of Energy or Department of Energy is a government department in some countries that typically oversees the production of fuel and electricity; in the United States, however, it manages nuclear weapons development and conducts energy-re ...

(DOE) offered a $1.3 billion

loan guarantee A loan guarantee, in finance, is a promise by one party (the guarantor) to assume the debt obligation of a borrower if that borrower defaults. A guarantee can be limited or unlimited, making the guarantor liable for only a portion or all of the d ...

for the project. The insurance fee for the loan guarantee would be paid from federal stimulus money through the Financial Institution Partnership Program.DOE LPO finalizes deal on the World’s largest Wind Project to date
''

United States Department of Energy The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and manages the research and development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons in the United Stat ...

'', 17 December 2010. Accessed: 18 December 2010. Generating capacity will be 845 megawatts, producing an estimated 2 billion kWh each year, enough to provide electricity to 235,000 homes. Once operational, the facility will have about 35 permanent employees. The wind farm is estimated to have an economic benefit of $16 million annually for Oregon. In April 2011,

Google Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...

announced they had invested $100 million in the project, part of a $500 million investment package announced by General Electric and including as investors, also, subsidiaries of

Itochu is a Japanese corporation based in Umeda, Kita-ku, Osaka and Aoyama, Minato, Tokyo. It is one of the largest Japanese ''sogo shosha'' (general trading companies). Among Japanese trading companies, it is distinguished by not being descend ...

Corp. and Sumitomo Corporation. The facility was officially opened on September 22, 2012.

Electricity production

Concerns

There are concerns that have been raised by taxpayer watchdog groups and various blogs. They point out that large private ranch owners in the area will receive up to $12,000 annually per turbine leased on their land, while they have already received tens of millions of dollars in U.S. government subsidies over the years and then benefiting from taxpayer subsidies of the wind energy industry. Some local ranchers due to benefit or already benefiting from the partially government subsidized wind energy projects were published as receiving nearly $1 million in government agricultural subsidies in 2008 alone.

References

External links

BPA.gov: Shepherds Flat Wind Farm
nbsp;— Shepherds Flat Wind Farm (archived)
U.S. Department of Energy: Shepherds Flat Wind Farm
nbsp;— Shepherds Flat Wind Farm (archived) {{Wind power in the United States Wind farms in Oregon Buildings and structures in Gilliam County, Oregon Buildings and structures in Morrow County, Oregon Energy infrastructure completed in 2012 2012 establishments in Oregon Itochu Southern California Edison

Details

Electricity production

Concerns

See also

References

External links