Report Forecasts More Wind Power for Eastern Washington
March 22nd, 2007
Eastern Washington’s landscape likely will see many more turbines and power plants built to harness the desert’s gusty winds, a new report forecast Wednesday.
But although wind power can play a large role in the Northwest, it will never be a consistent solution to regional needs, according to the 71-page report from a group of energy industry leaders.
The Bonneville Power Administration and the Northwest Power and Conservation Council commissioned the group more than six months ago to develop the Northwest Wind Integration Action Plan.
The report is upbeat about wind power, noting it could generate enough electricity to power three cities the size of Seattle by 2024 — about 6,000 megawatts.
But wind’s unpredictability will limit its potential and make it unlikely ever to become the sole or primary energy source for a power system that counts on reliability, the group found.
“Those of us who live east of the Cascades know that wind power is no longer a new curiosity,” said Tom Karier, a Washington member of the Northwest Power and Conservation Council and co-chairman of the 21-member study committee. “But wind is a variable resource and addressing that is a primary part of the plan.”
Despite the limitations, interest in wind power has grown as concerns increased about carbon emissions and natural gas costs. Wind is free and environmentally friendly, but it’s not easy to capture or cheap to transmit in the form of power…[more]
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