Alta Wind Energy Center has the highest capacity for a wind farm project in the USA at 1,548 MW. The project, also called the Mojave Wind Farm, is the world’s second-largest onshore wind farm. The milestone is emphatic as the largest wind farm because of its location near Tehachapi Pass.
The eleven phases of the farm used Vestas turbines, delivering an average capacity factor of 23% from its 2014 to 2019 operations. The wind farm, first developed by Terra-Gen power, now sells its electricity to Southern California Edison in a 25-year purchase agreement.
Tehachapi Area and Clean Energy
Tehachapi Pass is a historical location for the precursors to wind farm development in the USA. In the 1970s and 1980s, Tehachapi Pass was the location of the first large-scale wind farm in the USA–Tehachapi Pass Wind farm.
Back then, wind farms were built in smaller phases, making the Tehachapi Pass a feat at the time. The wind farm operates today at 1,548 MW of installed capacity.
Alta Wind Energy Center was commissioned in 2010, breaking a pause of two decades in large-scale wind farm development in California. The wind turbines in the Tehachapi mountains have altitudes ranging between 3,000 and 6,000 feet.
When the wind rushes into the Tehachapi Wind Pass, the turbines get a significant amount of air volume, squeezing into the pass and making the wind turbines spin.
Significance of the Alta Wind Energy Center
The wind farm is part of the wind energy push of the state of California, which also pushed the development of Shiloh Wind Farm from 2006 to 2012.
However, the wind industry in 2022 is yet to surpass the Mojave Wind farm record in California or the USA. The wind project has enough power to deliver 3.1 gigawatt-hours of renewable energy annually.
Without the project, it would be as if The Mojave Wind Farm would add 446,000 gasoline cars to the road. Annually, the project prevents 5.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions from being released into the atmosphere.
The generating capacity from the project is delivered via the transmission lines of the Tehachapi renewable transmission project that went online in 2012. The Tehachapi Renewable Transmission line runs 173 miles to provide electricity from Kern County to Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties.
Wind Project Development and Local Economy
The Alta project was developed in 11 phases by different developers. The construction for the first phase began in 2010 and was commissioned in 2011. The rest of the phases continued until the eleventh was commissioned in January 2014.
| Phase | Commissioning Date | Nameplate Capacity |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2011 | 150 MW |
| 2 | 2011 | 150 MW |
| 3 | 2011 | 150 MW |
| 4 | 2011 | 102 MW |
| 5 | 2011 | 168 MW |
| 6 | 2012 | 150 MW |
| 7 | 2012 | 168 MW |
| 8 | 2012 | 150 MW |
| 9 | 2012 | 132 MW |
| 10 | 2014 | 138 MW |
| 11 | 2014 | 90 MW |
The Alta Wind Energy Center also allowed Kern County to benefit from the Tehachapi Renewable Transmission line project. The transmission lines, an investment by Southern California Edison, helps Kern County export the electricity and get a return on investment from the wind turbines.
Furthermore, the wind farm project attracted investors like Google and Citi in a leveraged lease setup. Google and Citi bought electricity from the wind farm. They leased it back to Terra-Gen Power, which manages and operates the wind farm.
Community Stakeholders
The project further validates the viability of wind projects in the county, given that the area has proven to be a valuable location for wind resources.
A variety of landowners in the area welcomed the Alta Wind Energy Center. The mix of landowners who leased their lands to the project includes private, public, large, small, local, and non-local landowners.
Visibly, the wind turbines are built closer to each other, allowing more space for future wind projects. Otherwise, the land is not profitable for other investments as the location is far from urban centers.
The project extends the beneficiaries from wind to Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties via Southern California Edison’s transmission lines.
Expansion Plans
There are no announced plans to expand the wind farm’s installed capacity.