Bigger turbine may put wind jobs in Colorado or Nevada

A California wind-energy company is eyeing Colorado and Nevada as locations to build the nation's largest wind turbines.

Clipper Windpower Inc. said the two states are finalists in the company's plan to build a plant that would produce a new line of wind generators soaring 435 feet into the air.

The manufacturing and assembly plant initially would employ 75 workers and ultimately could grow to as many as 550 employees, earning annual salaries averaging $42,000, Clipper Windpower chief executive Jim Dehlsen said.

Clipper plans to unveil a prototype of the new turbine — minus its 300-foot-diameter rotor — in Denver in May at Windpower 2005, the annual conference and exhibition of the American Wind Energy Association.

Clipper's new turbines will generate a maximum of 2.5 megawatts, making them two-thirds more powerful than the 1.5-megawatt units made by GE Wind Energy that are used at the Lamar wind farm.

One megawatt of continuous electricity serves about 650 homes. Because the wind blows sporadically, one megawatt of wind capacity serves about 240 to 300 average homes.

Industry analysts said Clipper's large turbine could bring significant improvements in the economics of wind energy.

"Larger turbines make a tremendous difference in the cost competitiveness of wind power" compared with coal and natural gas, said Gary Schmitz of the Golden, Colo.-based National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

While larger turbines produce far more power than smaller units, their ground "footprints" — the amount of surface area they occupy — are only slightly larger.

For example, a wind farm under development by Clipper in Maryland will produce 100 megawatts using the company's new turbines, compared with 70 megawatts if smaller turbines were used on the same amount of acreage.

In addition, the rotors of the larger turbines are higher in the air, causing fewer bird and bat deaths from collisions with blades.

While wind power is widely embraced for its environmental benefits, some critics dislike the noise and visual impact of wind farms containing hundreds of turbines.

The proposed "Cape Wind" project with 130 turbines in offshore waters south of Cape Cod, Mass., has been controversial because of complaints that it would interfere with pristine ocean views.