Associated Press
SALEM, Ore. — A state panel on Friday cleared the way for construction of the Oregon portion of a $300 million, two-state power farm near the Oregon-Washington border.
The state Energy Facility Siting Council issued a site permit for FPL Energy of Florida, which wants to erect 127 wind turbines north of Pendleton near the state line.
The company says the facility, called the Stateline Wind Generating Project, will be the world’s largest single wind energy installation.
Construction began earlier this year on hundreds of wind generators across the border in Washington that will make up two-thirds of the project.
The entire plant is expected to generate about 300 megawatts of power, enough for about 70,000 homes, the equivalent of one-third of the residential electricity customers in Portland.
The power will be marketed to 11 Western states by PacifiCorp Power Marketing, a subsidiary of PacifiCorp, a major Northwest energy supplier.
Plans are to begin work on the Oregon part of the project on Monday.
Peter Mostow, an FPL attorney, told the siting council the company is on a tight schedule and hopes to finish the work by Dec. 31 in order to qualify the whole project for a federal power production tax credit that is scheduled to expire at year’s end.
Mostow said President Bush is asking Congress to extend the tax credit, but that uncertainties could put the tax break in doubt.
FPL Energy, the largest developer of wind energy facilities in the nation, is a branch of a company that owns Florida Power &Light Co.
The power industry and conservationists say improvements in turbine technology have made wind power more efficient and environmentally sound.
The slow-moving windmills, with rotor blades measuring 150 feet from end to end, automatically can adjust blade angles to maximize the wind’s natural power.
Slower-moving rotors also decrease what has been a wind farm problem of the deaths of birds caught in the blades.
The siting council’s conditions require the company to monitor bird and bat deaths and authorize the council to order steps to alleviate the problem.
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