Sisters man evaluates wind energy projects

With the cost of petroleum fuels skyrocketing, "green power" and renewable energy sources are beginning to attract lots of attention.

So it's no accident that late last month the Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council announced approval for what is being billed as the "world's largest wind farm" in north central Oregon. When fully complete, the new wind farm would have 303 wind turbines that will more than double Oregon's present wind-generated power capability.

The planned wind farm is northeast of Sisters, near the Oregon community of Arlington. The project has been in the works for quite a while, but the approval announcement is well timed.

"Although this was just announced," said Sisters resident Mitch Eisenbeis, "we've actually been working that site for four years now."

Eisenbeis is part of a three-man team that erects the test towers used to evaluate the feasibility of wind power projects.

"We don't put up the windmill turbine generators," he explained. "We install and monitor the test towers used to evaluate a proposed site. The results obtained from the test towers determine where the generators will go."

Typically, the test towers are 60 meters tall. However, Eisenbeis added that, "During the winter, we often shorten the towers to 45 meters to minimize the effects of icing."

In addition to an anemometer and a directional wind vane, each tower holds a small "iPac" computer that records wind direction and speed over time. A small solar panel powers the unit, and the iPac transmits the data by satellite to a central location for evaluation.

According to PPM Energy, the project developer, "a project can be economically viable if the annual average wind speed is at least 12 to 14 mph." The global Spanish energy firm, Iberdrola Renewables, which has its North American headquarters in Portland, recently acquired PPM.

Eisenbeis is actually employed by Met Towers, a Corvallis firm. PPM has a long-term agreement with Met Towers to install the towers and testing devices that will determine the eventual placement of the turbine generators.

Assembling towers approximately two-thirds the length of a football field is no small task. The towers are put together on the ground at the site and winched into place. The Met Towers team installs the computer components on the ground when the tower is assembled. According to Met Towers co-owner, Chris Sailor, the new iPac units save a lot of work. The previous system required that computer cards had to be removed and shipped to the evaluation site.

Eisenbeis has worked with Met Towers for several years.

"We're on the road a lot, but this is a great job. I enjoy working outdoors with friends, and the company really looks after us," he said.

He also likes the fact that all the Met Towers people are Oregon State football fans. As a result, their travel schedule usually finds the tower team in Corvallis for home football games and - sometimes - on hand for an occasional away game.

Most of Met Towers' work is in the windy Columbia Gorge at one of the several wind farm locations or prospective locations. That's not always the case, though, and contracts have taken Eisenbeis to other sites in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, California, Utah, Nevada, Arizona and Texas.

The Arlington-area project that is generating the current buzz is scheduled for construction next year and has been dubbed the Shepherd's Flat Wind Farm. According to the Portland Business Journal, the current wind-generated capacity for the entire State of Oregon is 889 megawatts (MW). Shepherd's Flat will add 909 MW to the power grid, enough energy to power 200,000 homes. At present, the largest operating wind farm is at Horse Hollow, Texas, with 736 MW.

Typically, wind farms are located on farms, ranches, and rangeland. PPM says that the final project footprint is only about two percent of the land, and farming and ranching easily coexist with the projects. In addition to energy, wind farms also generate huge amounts of cash for the landowners.

Information provided by PPM states that the company provides monthly payments during development, a one-time installation payment for each turbine, and annual operating payments thereafter, typically for 25 years. Monthly payments are estimated at $4,336 for each turbine.

If you have 303 turbines, well... you do the math.