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Wind Power's Promise
The Register-Guard, editorial
March 24, 2007
One day soon a person in Lane County may wait to run
the dishwasher until a utility sends a signal to indicate
that the wind is blowing in the ColumbiaGorge. That's
just one example of how the Northwest may incorporate
windpower as a major source of electricity. It can be
done - but it won't befree, and wind is unlike other
primary power sources.
Wind power is developing rapidly in the Northwest and
in many other parts of the world - so rapidly that the
Bonneville Power Administration convened a group of utilities,
regulators and energy planners to study how a large quantity
of wind power could fit into the regional power portfolio.
The result is the Northwest Wind Integration Action Plan,
which reviews the consequences of reliance on wind for
8 percent of the region's electricity, up from its current
2 percent share. Such an increase is expected to occur
by 2024 - or sooner, given the current rate of wind power
development.
Wind power has two great advantages: The fuel is free,
and it produces no emissions that contribute to global
warming. The importance of these advantages will grow
as fossil fuels become more scarce and expensive, and
as concern over global warming translates into policies
discouraging emissions of carbon dioxide.
Wind power has drawbacks as well: It is an intermittent
source whose availability does not always match demand,
and the best wind sites tend to be far from where electricity
is used. As long as people expect the lights to come
on when they flip a switch, wind power will need a backup.
The large-scale development of wind power will also require
significant additions to the electric transmission system.
Neither of these drawbacks is insurmountable. Indeed,
the Northwest is better positioned than most areas to
cope with wind power's unreliability and transmission
requirements. Hydropower, which currently supplies two-thirds
of the region's electricity, is an ideal complement to
wind power - water can be stored behind dams when the
wind is blowing, and spilled through turbines during
calm periods. The Northwest's existing transmission system,
meanwhile, is capable of handling increased wind power
generation for the next few years.
For those reasons, the action plan predicts that the
cost of integrating additional wind power will be low
in the beginning. Even as the percentage of wind power
grows, however, the need for new transmission lines and
backup power during periods of peak demand or low winds
will result in only marginally higher costs. By the time
wind contributes 6,000 megawatts of power to the Northwest's
energy mix - 60 times the capacity of the Eugene Water & Electric
Board's Carmen-Smith project - customers of a utility
that obtains 10 percent of its electricity from wind
will pay an additional 30 cents to 70 cents a month.
Those costs are small, particularly when set against
the chance to reduce fossil fuel purchases and carbon
emissions. Even lower costs might result if more can
be done to integrate a large but intermittent wind resource
into the regional power mix. Supply and demand can be
more closely matched by timing some uses of electricity
to coincide with periods of strong wind production. Wind
power generating sites can be dispersed to reduce fluctuations
in power production.
The action plan revealed no technical or financial barriers
to wind power's emergence as a major power source, surpassing
nuclear and natural gas. Wind is not the complete answer
to the question of where the Northwest will obtain electricity
in the future - but it's a big part of it.
About First Wind
First Wind is based in Newton, Massachusetts. First Wind
is an American-owned company, with a proven track record
of developing, owning, and operating well-sited, community-friendly
wind farms that increase energy independence. For more
information on First Wind, please visit www.firstwind.com.
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For more information, contact:
John Lamontagne
Director, Communications
First Wind
617-964-3340
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