2,000 MW Wind Farm Will Send Power from Wyoming to Southern California
The Anschutz Corp. said Tuesday it has acquired the rights to a proposed $3 billion, 3,000-megawatt transmission project that will bring electricity from Wyoming to Southern California, Las Vegas and Phoenix.
The 900-mile TransWest Express Project will carry power from a 2,000-megawatt wind farm Anschutz is developing in south-central Wyoming, a large portion of which will be built on a ranch he has owned for about 15 years.
A study by National Grid released this month concluded that wind-generated power produced in southern Wyoming is the most viable option for meeting the clean power demands of the desert Southwest. Both the wind farm and the proposed transmission project still must get approval from state and federal agencies, which will include an environmental impact study and opportunities for public comment. The permitting process will likely take 24-36 months to complete.
This is the fist venture into renewable energy for Anschutz, who made his fortune in oil, gas, real estate, telecommunications and entertainment. Today’s news comes in the wake of two major developments in US wind energy development: the well-publicized T. Boone Pickens push for a 4,000 MW wind farm and associated grid infrastructure in Texas, and the recent approval of a 909 megawatt wind farm in Oregon.
Related Posts:
- World’s Largest Wind Farm Planned in Oregon
- Transmission Politics Hold Up Utility-Scale Solar
- World’s Largest Offshore Wind Farm Back on Track
- Texas to Build Wind Power Super Highway
The Denver Post
Photo: Vestas
It will be extremely interesting to see how this project unfolds. It is becoming increasingly clear that the most pressing goal for developing more wind power generating capacity is not the building of new wind farms, but the rather the effective transportation of the resulting energy to where it is most needed. Not to mention the problems with simply integrating that much new power into the grid, as Ariel mentioned in her post on the Oregon windfarm. Hopefully this will prove a successful pilot project.
More energy solutions: http://www.brightfuture.us
Check out PacifiCorp’s Generator Interconnection Queue (it is basically the “line” you have to stand in to interconnect your electricity generating facility to the transmission system). Notice every Wyoming interconnection request is wind power, excepting two. Wind is here to stay folks.
Oops… forgot the link!
http://www.oasis.pacificorp.com/oasis/ppw/lgia/pacificorplgiaq.htm
I’m confused, why call it 2000MW when there’s a better term for that.
Tim and JL-
thanks for the links.
richansa-
Good question, perhaps for effect I suppose. And to be honest, I’m not sure if everyone who reads this automatically knows how much a gigawatt is. Megawatt is a term that people (at least in the U.S.) have a little bit better of a grasp on.
Thanks for your input.
[...] Anschutz Corporation has acquired the rights to a 3,000 megawatt transmission project that will transport wind energy harnessed in Wyoming to Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Southern [...]
Fascinating. Harnessing energy is such an intriguing topic, and the benefits are endless.
[Notice every Wyoming interconnection request is wind power]…
Having grown up in south east Wyoming, wind is the one major thing Wyoming has plenty of and can contribute to society.
60mph winds almost all winter where I grew up. It is time it was finally put to use.
At what cost to the tax payers?? Ol’ Boone Pickens plan is full of tax breaks and subsidies. How about this one?
“… And to be honest, I’m not sure if everyone who reads this automatically knows how much a gigawatt is.”
1.21 gigawatts is what it takes to jumpstart a flux capacitor — everybody knows that.