HORSE HEAVEN WIND FARM
Location: Tri-City area (Kennewick), Wash.
Project Timeline: The anticipated earliest start of the first phase is late-2021, and a second phase could start concurrently or after a one-year delay. The local permitting has not yet begun.
Number of Wind Turbines: The project full buildout potential is up to 235 wind turbines for the manufacturer and model desired.
Energy Production: In excess of 2 million MWh annually.
Electrical Contractor and Engineer: A request for proposals is not anticipated to be available until spring 2021.
Owner: Horse Heaven Wind Farm LLC
The Pacific Northwest has a growing need for renewable energy to replace the retirement of coal-fired generation, and the proposed Horse Heaven Wind Farm is poised to meet that demand.
“The Tri-City area business leaders desire to create an energy mecca, and the region electric grid enhancements will provide common benefits to the Pacific Northwest electric grid and all those reliant upon it,” says Michael Rucker, CEO and founder of Scout Clean Energy. “The neighboring wind project, Nine Canyon, has demonstrated low-impact results and has become an accepted and prominent landmark of the community.”
Because of its proximity to the Tri-City area, Horse Heaven Wind Farm has been characterized as a metropolitan wind site. It will join nuclear Columbia Generating Station, Nine Canyon Wind Project, and the Federal Columbia River System hydroelectric facilities. The project is planned for development in an area with higher-than-average wind resources for the Pacific Northwest as well as low environmental impact.
“Local utilities have indicated that the power production profile is compatible with their load profile” says Rucker. “Therefore, it generates the most energy during the greatest time of need.”
The first phase of the project will be located adjacent to a new substation interconnecting with the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) grid network. The second phase is expected to include a generation tie-line spanning approximately 10 miles.
In addition to the Horse Heaven Wind Farm, which is still under development, Scout recently wrapped up the Heart of Texas Wind Farm in McCullough County, Texas, in May 2020. The 180MW wind farm, which was built by Renewable Energy Systems (RES) Americas, features 64 wind turbines on the GE 2.X platform. Scout owns and operates the wind farm, which started construction in September 2019.
“Heart of Texas is our third successive wind farm closing as an owner-operator and brings Scout’s owned portfolio of wind generation to 700MW,” Rucker says. “Heart of Texas supported up to 200 jobs during construction and up to seven permanent jobs during operations.”
Heart of Texas will provide zero emissions renewable power for both Texas industry and thousands of homes. The project is situated on a ridgeline that runs predominantly east to west, perpendicular to the prevailing wind direction.
Scout acquired the Heart of Texas project from RES Americas, which originally developed the project as part of the second phase of the Rattlesnake Wind Farm. This wind farm commenced operations in 2018 and shares a transmission line with the Heart of Texas Project.
Scout entered into a fixed-price balance-of-plant construction agreement with RES Americas Construction. Electrical work included the installation of underground cabling, a generation tie line, electrical protection equipment, metering, communication equipment, and a main power transformer. The project also involved construction of underground medium-voltage (MV) collection cables, a substation, and an overhead high-voltage transmission line.
“Heart of Texas was completed on time and under budget, which is quite an achievement, given the widespread disruption that COVID-19 has caused across the entire U.S. economy,” Rucker says. “It is a real credit to Scout’s construction management team, our suppliers, contractors, and financiers who have worked tirelessly to get to the finish line.”
