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  • 21 Aug, 2019

  • By, Wikipedia

Tehachapi Wind Resource Area

The Tehachapi Wind Resource Area (TWRA) is a large wind resource area along the foothills of the Sierra Nevada and Tehachapi Mountains in California. It is the largest wind resource area in California, encompassing an area of approximately 800 sq mi (2,100 km) and producing a combined 3,507 MW of renewable electricity between its 5 independent wind farms.

The mountain pass acts as a venturi effect to air moving between ocean and desert, increasing wind speed.

This area is a net exporter of generation to other parts of the state of California. A state initiative to upgrade the transmission out of Tehachapi (the 4.5 GW Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project) began in 2008 and was completed by 2016. This has opened the door to further regional wind power development up to 10 GW, and multiple solar and storage projects are installed to utilize that capacity. A prime location for viewing the turbines is off of State Route 58 and from Tehachapi-Willow Springs Road.

Wind farms

The Tehachapi Wind Resource Area is home to 5 independently owned and operated wind farms as of February 2020.

Name Coordinates Capacity (MW) Year Ref
Alta Wind Energy Center 35°1′16″N 118°19′14″W / 35.02111°N 118.32056°W / 35.02111; -118.32056 (Alta Wind Energy Center) 1,548 2011
Manzana Wind Farm 34°55′11″N 118°26′55″W / 34.91972°N 118.44861°W / 34.91972; -118.44861 (Manzana Wind Farm) 340.7 2013
Pine Tree Wind Power Project 35°14′49″N 118°10′35″W / 35.24694°N 118.17639°W / 35.24694; -118.17639 (Pine Tree Wind Power Project) 135 2009
Sky River Wind Farm 35°20′42″N 118°11′09″W / 35.34500°N 118.18583°W / 35.34500; -118.18583 (Sky River Wind Farm) 239 1994
Tehachapi Pass Wind Farm 35°04′05″N 118°15′45″W / 35.06806°N 118.26250°W / 35.06806; -118.26250 (Tehachapi Pass Wind Farm) 1,244 1986

Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project

The development of the Tehachapi Wind Resource Area began in 2009 in conjunction with the development of the Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project. The transmission project was required to support new wind developments in the area at the time including Alta-Oak Creek Mojave Project which was part of Alta Wind Energy Center, the largest wind farm in the world as of 2013.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Why Tehachapi Pass? / Pioneers of the Wind / Hike A Mile or Two - Thousand Historical Marker". www.hmdb.org. Archived from the original on 19 October 2020.
  2. ^ "TRTP | Projects in Progress | Reliability | About Us | Home - SCE". www.sce.com. Retrieved 2017-03-14.
  3. ^ Cummings, Nikki (5 August 2010). "Tehachapi: Planned for Prosperity | Wind Systems Magazine". Archived from the original on 3 October 2022.
  4. ^ "Edwards Air Force Base harnessing the sun to bring more energy storage to the state". KERO 23 ABC News Bakersfield. 2 February 2023.
  5. ^ "Electricity Data Browser - Manzana Wind LLC". www.eia.gov. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  6. ^ "Electricity Data Browser - Pacific Wind LLC". www.eia.gov. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  7. ^ "Manzana (USA) - Wind farms - Online access - The Wind Power". www.thewindpower.net. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  8. ^ "Electricity Data Browser - Pine Tree Wind Power Project". www.eia.gov. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  9. ^ "L.A. goes large with wind power: Back Issues, altenerG.com - enerG Alternative Sources Magazine - enerG, Archives". www.altenerg.com. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  10. ^ "Electricity Data Browser - Solano Wind". www.eia.gov. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  11. ^ "Power sources". www.smud.org. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  12. ^ "Development of the TehachapiWind Resource Area" (PDF). Retrieved 27 August 2013.