The Stateline Wind Farm is a

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 tur ...

located on Vansycle Ridge, which receives 16 to 18 mph (26 – 29 km/h) average wind speeds from the

Columbia Gorge The Columbia River Gorge is a canyon of the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Up to deep, the canyon stretches for over as the river winds westward through the Cascade Range, forming the boundary between the stat ...

, on the border between

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

and

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 Idah ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. With 454 turbines, it is the largest wind project in the

Northwestern United States The Northwestern United States, also known as the American Northwest or simply the Northwest, is an informal geographic region of the United States. The region consistently includes the states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. ...

. Costing $300 million to build, it began operation in 2001. The project employs 660 kW capacity

Vestas Vestas Wind Systems A/S is a Danish manufacturer, seller, installer, and servicer of wind turbines that was founded in 1945. The company operates manufacturing plants in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Taiwan, India, Italy, Romania, the U ...

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 year. W ...

s, which collectively will produce a maximum electrical output of 306.9 MW. On average, the project is expected to produce 30 to 35 percent of that capacity year-round. Turbines are controlled individually by electronic systems which direct them into the wind and adjust the pitch of the blades to maximize electrical production at any wind speed from 7 to 56 mph (11.3 to 90 km/h). The turbines automatically shut down at wind speeds excess of , a feature which allows them to withstand

hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depe ...

-force winds. The wind turbines are grouped in strings of 5 to 37 turbines, each turbine spaced approximately 250 feet (76 m) from the next, generally slightly downwind of the crest of ridges. Each turbine tower is 166 feet (50 m) tall, with blades 76 feet (23 m) wide. Environmental impact studies determined that the site was not used extensively by

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

s or other species vulnerable to injury from turbines, and the turbine towers' construction, along with the use of underground

power lines Electric power transmission is the bulk movement of electrical energy from a generating site, such as a power plant, to an electrical substation. The interconnected lines that facilitate this movement form a ''transmission network''. This is ...

, was designed to minimize perching places for birds. The area around the project is used primarily for private

farming Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peop ...

, including dryland

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeolog ...

farming and cattle

grazing In agriculture, grazing is a method of animal husbandry whereby domestic livestock are allowed outdoors to roam around and consume wild vegetations in order to convert the otherwise indigestible (by human gut) cellulose within grass and other ...

. The Stateline Wind Project is several miles northwest of the

Vansycle Wind Project The Vansycle I Wind Project (formerly Vansycle Wind Project) is a wind farm in Umatilla County, Oregon. It consists of 38 Vestas 0.66 MW wind turbines at the upper end of Vansycle Canyon with a collective nameplate generating capacity of 25.08 ...

Umatilla County, Oregon Umatilla County () is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 80,075. Hermiston is the largest city in Umatilla County, but Pendleton remains the county seat. Umatilla County is part of ...

. Both are owned and operated by

Florida Power & Light Florida Power & Light Company (FPL), the principal subsidiary of NextEra Energy Inc. (formerly FPL Group, Inc.), is the largest power utility in Florida. It is a Juno Beach, Florida-based power utility company serving roughly 5 million custome ...

, a division of

NextEra Energy NextEra Energy, Inc. is an American energy company with about 58 GW of generating capacity (24 GW of which were from fossil fuel sources), revenues of over $18 billion in 2020, and about 14,900 employees throughout the US and Canada. It is the ...

. A wind turbine collapsed over the weekend of November 2, 2013 on the Washington side of the Stateline Wind Project.

Gallery

Image:WindTurbinesWallaWallaRiverNortheasterly.JPG Image:WindTurbinesWallaWallaRiver.JPG Image:WindTurbinesBlueMountains 2.JPG

References

External links

Renewable Northwest Project
site.
Oregon government
site. {{Wind power in the United States Buildings and structures in Umatilla County, Oregon Buildings and structures in Walla Walla County, Washington Wind farms in Oregon Wind farms in Washington (state) Energy infrastructure completed in 2001 Energy infrastructure completed in 2002 Energy infrastructure completed in 2009 2001 establishments in Oregon 2001 establishments in Washington (state) NextEra Energy

Gallery

See also

References

External links