Last night, cycling to the Peterson’s ranch through the small town of Judith Gap, I noticed what appeared to be an old airplane without wings, randomly plunked down on the side of the road. I was slightly puzzled by it for a short while, but the strange image quickly left my mind, as I was preoccupied with completing the last few miles of a ride that we started over eight hours before. However, the object was mentioned in conversation later, and I realized then that it was actually not an airplane, but the blade of an enormous wind turbine, similar to those that we would see later at the Judith Gap Wind Farm. The blade symbolizes the large (positive) impact that wind power has had on the area.
This afternoon, after a relaxed morning touring the ranch and comparing sunburns from the previous day’s ride, we made our way to the Judith Gap Wind Farm amidst bright sunshine and gusts of wind (thankfully mostly pushing us forward). As short a ride as it was, it is one I definitely won’t forget-cycling along flanked by plains and mountains, with a forest of giant turbines standing around me silently waving their arms in unison. I was awed by the beauty and immense scale not only of the turbines, but of the whole scene surrounding me.
Once we reached the entrance to the wind farm we followed the plant manager, John Bacon, to the foot of one of the turbines where he explained to us the details of the wind farm and answered our probing questions about wind power. I was hoping to also be allowed to climb up the inside of one of the turbines, but when the time came the sky threatened inclement weather, and I had to be content just looking up towards the the top from the base floor.
The wind farm consists of 90 turbines, each 262 foot tall with three blades sticking out 126 feet from the hub. Each turbine produces 1.5 MW of electricity, and has a lifespan of 20-25 years. Seemingly randomly scattered about the plains, the turbines were all put up in less than a year, and are actually specifically placed where they will work most efficiently as determined by an engineer and a meteorologist. Due to the wind farm’s location between the mountains, the turbines receive high and consistent winds which allow them to produce power 90% of the time (though they tend to only reach full generating capacity 30-35% of the time). The blades spin when the wind is blowing about 20-55 mph, and the entire top of the turbine faces the wind to maximize efficiency. The wind power produced here costs only 3 cents per kilowatt hour-less than coal or natural gas-and, unlike with fossil fuels this price remains steady.
As I lie awake now under a clear sky full of stars, I ponder the question: will wind energy ever replace fossil fuels? We have met at least one couple who uses wind power to successfully produce at least part of their energy, and with wind power rapidly expanding and becoming available at a cheap cost and without the negative environmental or health impacts of fossil fuels, a future in wind power should seem hopeful. But the general consensus right now seems to be that wind power by itself is not, and may never be, completely sufficient to meet all of our energy needs. The main reason for this, first cited to us by the representative of the Corette coal-fired power plant and later by the manager of the Judith Gap Wind Farm, is the fact that wind does not supply a steady source of power, and so must be supplemented by another source such as hydro or natural gas. An article we read, however, suggests an innovative solution to this dilemma which involves simply connecting a large number of wind farms to the same large grid. The variability of each farm would greatly reduce/eliminate overall inconsistency, making wind power much more reliable and efficient as a base load source of power. (L. Brown, Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization, p 244-245) So perhaps there is a future in wind power after all. I like to think so anyway. At the very least, it will continue to supplement our other sources of energy. A cool breeze touches my face and rustles the leaves of a tree above my head. I realize wind is energizing even in small amounts. With technology what it is today, we should have no problem switching to wind to satisfy many of our energy needs.
–Patrick Walden, University of British Columbia
