Wind power in Arizona

As of 2016, Arizona has 268 megawatts (MW) of wind powered electricity generating capacity, producing 0.5% of in-state generated electricity.[1]

Kingman
Perrin Ranch
Red Horse
White Hills
Wind power projects in Arizona
  Operating
  Under construction

History

Utility-scale wind power in Arizona began in 2009 with the commissioning of the first phase of the Dry Lake Wind Power Project[2][3] in Navajo County.

Installed capacity and wind resources

The following table compares the growth in wind power installed nameplate capacity in megawatts (MW) for Arizona and the entire United States since 2008.[3][4][5]

Year Arizona US
2008 0 25,410
2009 63 34,863
2010 128.1 40,267
2011 139 46,916
2012 238 60,005
2013 238 61,107
2014 238 65,880
2015 268 74,471
2016 268 82,171
2017 268 89,078
2018 268 96,487
2019 268 105,583
Installed capacity by state as of 2018 (animated map of installed capacity growth)
Average annual wind power density map for Arizona at 50m above ground

Arizona has the potential to install up to 10.9 GW of onshore wind power nameplate capacity at 80 meter, 74.4 GW at 110 meter, or 191.0 GW at 140 meter hub height, generating 585 TWh annually.[6][7][8] For comparison, Arizona consumed 69.391 TWh of electricity in 2005;[9][10] the entire U.S. wind power industry was producing at an annual rate of approximately 50 TWh at the end of 2008; Arizona's Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station produced 26.782 TWh in 2007; and Three Gorges Dam (the world's largest electricity-generating station) produced an average of 80 TWh/yr in 2008 and 2009.

Wind farms

Operating

Planned
  • As of 2012, BP Wind Energy of North America proposed building the Mohave County Wind Farm project comprising up to 258 wind turbines on federally managed lands in Mohave County. The site – about 49,000 acres of public land – is in the White Hills area about 40 miles northwest of Kingman and 20 miles southeast of Hoover Dam. The project should have up to 500 MW of capacity and construction may be in phases. Transmission lines are planned to connect to existing Western Area Power Administration lines.[15] The project was sold to NextEra Energy and renamed the White Hills Wind Project. Larger turbines will be used, reducing the number needed. An interconnection to WAPA's Mead-Peacock 345-kV transmission line was approved by WAPA in May 2019.[16] Construction of the 127 turbine farm began in 2020, with initial power output expected by the end of the year. Southern California Clean Power Alliance has signed a 20-year power purchase agreement for 300 MW from the wind farm.[17]

Small-scale wind power
The ASU School of Sustainability

Flagstaff is the home of Southwest Windpower.

The ASU School of Sustainability in Tempe, Arizona features an array of small wind turbines on its roof, with real-time data available to the public through the ASU Campus Metabolism[18] web site.

Environmental impact

According to the USDOE, each 1000 MW of wind power capacity installed in Arizona will annually save 818 million gallons of water and eliminate 2.0 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions.[19]

For comparison, Arizona emitted a total of 101,510,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2007.[20]

See also

References
  1. "Arizona Wind Energy" (PDF). U.S. Wind Energy State Facts. American Wind Energy Association. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  2. Randazzo, Ryan (2009-05-12). "Harvesting Arizona wind". Arizona Republic. Retrieved 2010-05-04.
  3. "U.S. Wind Energy Projects - Arizona". American Wind Energy Association. 2009-12-31. Retrieved 2010-05-04.
  4. Wind Energy in Arizona
  5. WINDExchange: Installed and Potential Wind Power Capacity and Generation
  6. "Estimates of Windy Land Area and Wind Energy Potential by State for Areas >= 30% Capacity Factor at 80m" (XLS). National Renewable Energy Laboratory. 2010-02-04. Retrieved 2010-05-06.
  7. "Arizona Wind Activities". National Renewable Energy Laboratory. 2010-02-19. Retrieved 2010-05-06.
  8. "Arizona Wind Resource Map and Potential Wind Capacity". Department of Energy's Wind Program. 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2016-03-06.
  9. "Electric Power and Renewable Energy in Arizona". USDOE, EERE. 2008-06-25. Retrieved 2010-05-06.
  10. "Arizona Quick Facts". USDOE, EIA. 2010-05-06. Retrieved 2010-05-06.
  11. 5 Wind Turbines Are Up South Of Kingman
  12. Perrin Ranch Wind Energy Center
  13. Military Budget Blowing Away?
  14. Big wind farm starts producing electricity for Tucson
  15. Bureau of Land Management (2011-09-27). "Mohave County Wind Farm Project".
  16. Mohave County Wind Farm Project Record of Decision, Federal Register, 84 FR 20622, May 10, 2019
  17. Hawins, DAvid (Mar 5, 2020). "Wind farm under construction in White Hills". Mohave Valley Daily News.
  18. Campus Metabolism
  19. Lantz, Eric; Tegen, Suzanne (October 2008). "Economic Benefits, Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Emissions Reductions, and Water Conservation Benefits from 1,000 Megawatts (MW) of New Wind Power in Arizona" (PDF, 514kB). EERE, NREL. Retrieved 2010-05-06.
  20. CO2 Emissions from Fossil Fuel Combustion - Million Metric Tons CO2
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