We Energies' First Utility-Scale Wind Farm - Feature Blue Sky Green Field Wind Energy Center
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Feature
Blue Sky Green Field Wind Energy Center
We Energies’ First
Utility-Scale Wind
Farm
The Towns of Calumet and Marshfield, WI
Photography by Christine Coates, Editor, Wind Today
18 WIND TODAY Second Quarter 2009
If you look closely at the blades of Calumet and Marshfield in northeast
Facility
the wind turbines operating at the Blue Fond du Lac County, in east central
Highlights
Sky Green Field Energy Center in Wisconsin. Location: Near the towns of Calumet
Wisconsin, you might see that one of We Energies leases 6,500 acres of and Marshfield in northeast Fond
those 264 blades is decorated with property from 51 landowners for the du Lac County, WI
community members’ signatures. wind farm. The site includes 50 miles of Size: 88 wind turbines
Developer: We Energies
“In December 2007, during our collector system cabling and 20 miles of
Owner: We Energies
construction phase, we held a commu- access roads. Project capacity: 145 MW
nity event so our neighbors could see Individual landowners receive a Power contract: We Energies
some of the blades and rotors up close fixed lease payment each year as well Project cost: Approximately $300
million
before they were erected,” says Tanya as benefits received by their communi-
Connector & Transmission System:
Holler Muench, special projects ties. According to Barry McNulty, American Transmission Company
coordinator, We Energies. manager of media relations and Utility: We Energies
We Energies, Milwaukee, WI (414- special projects at We Energies, the Commercial operation: May 19,
221-2345), is the trade name of the towns of Marshfield and Calumet each 2008
Wisconsin Electric Power Co. and receive annual payments of approxi-
Wisconsin Gas LLC, the principal mately $120,000 per town plus another
Turbine Features
Turbines: Vestas V82, 1.65 MW
utility subsidiaries of Wisconsin $300,000 or more every year for the Tower: 262 ft.
Energy Corporation. county. Blade length: 134 ft.
We Energies owns the 145 megawatt “Our relationship with the commu- Operational RPMs: 14.4
Cut in wind speed: 8 mph
(MW) wind farm. nity is important to We Energies,” says
Rated wind speed: 30 mph
During the community event, says Holler Muench. Cut out wind speed: 54 mph
Holler Muench, guests signed a wind In order to facilitate open communi-
turbine blade which was later put into cations, the wind farm hosts open Key Personnel:
production on one of the wind farm’s houses. “We try to open up the wind Manager-Renewable Resources:
88 Vestas V82 1.65 MW turbines. farm twice each year so people can see Mark Noah
Project Manager: Andy Hesselbach
the operation for themselves and get a
Director-Construction: Dan
Blue Sky Gr
Sky een Field Energy
Green better understanding of what we do Pobloskie
Center here,” says Holler Muench. Manager of Alternative Energy
The Blue Sky Green Field energy Mark Noah, manager-renewable Strategy: Richard O’Conor
center is located near the towns of
19
We Energies built the Blue Sky Green Field energy center’s substation
adjacent to ATC’s substation.
resources for We Energies, energy market in June 1999 when the
manages the wind farm. Noah company erected two Vestas V47 wind
says more than 1,000 people turbines by the side of Highway 41
attended an event at Blue Sky near Byron, WI.
Green Field last September. “The Byron turbines were We
“We didn’t know how many guests Energies’ initial foray into the wind
to expect since it was a cold, rainy energy field,” says Holler Muench. She
Saturday,” says Noah. “We were explains that in their 10 years of
surprised at the number of people who operation the two wind turbines have
lined up more than 200 ft. waiting their demonstrated good numbers related to
turn for a tour.” their capacity factor and electricity
Holler Muench says We Energies’ production.
commitment to open communications The positive experience with those
The Blue Sky
with the community has proven turbines led the company to consider
Green Field
energy center beneficial to the project. acquiring wind farms to increase its
is located “We’ve come into this community ownership of renewable energy.
near the and are operating on their property,” “We decided to invest in wind
towns of
Calumet and Fond du Lac says Holler Muench. “It’s important energy in response to the state Renew-
Marshfield in County, WI that we operate as partners with the able Portfolio Standard (RPS), as well as
northeast Fond people who live here.” to meet our customers’ demand for
Du Lac County,
During the permitting and construc- renewable energy,” says Noah.
WI.
tion process, says Holler Muench, We An electric and gas utility, We
Energies representatives met with Energies serves customers in Wisconsin
landowners, held community meetings, and the Michigan Upper Peninsula.
The wind farm is comprised of and maintained a project hotline. Currently, We Energies’ supply
88 wind turbines standing on Noah says that hiring technicians portfolio includes approximately 3%
6,500 acres of land. from the local community further from renewable energy.
aids in community relations. “The According to Noah, wind energy is
technicians who live around here the least expensive of the company’s
know the issues that are being renewable energy options for new,
discussed and can help us better large-scale production. The utility also
anticipate any concerns that might purchases renewables from other
come up,” says Noah. generating companies.
The wind farm employs 13-15 people Customer demand. Noah says the
for operations and maintenance. At the utility’s Energy for Tomorrow renewable
peak of construction, says Noah, about energy program allows customers to
450 workers were employed by the pay a premium to assure that a percent-
project. age of their electricity is generated by
We Energies has a multi-year O&M renewable sources.
contract with Vestas which has hired In March 2009, an average 750
mostly local residents. kilowatt per hour customer would be
“Vestas’ technicians have done a expected to pay $2.57 extra for 25%
great job with O&M services,” says renewable energy. Customers who
Noah. “I’m especially impressed with want 100% of their electricity to come
the amount of training the company from renewables would pay an
provides their employees,” he states. additional $10.28.
As of March 2009, says McNulty,
Development
Dev 19,624 We Energies customers subscribe
We Energies first entered the wind to this program.
20 WIND TODAY Second Quarter 2009
Renewable Portfolio Standard. Pipe and wire were buried approxi- link the turbines—eight separate
Wisconsin’s RPS was established in mately four feet below ground to avoid circuits—to the SCADA system.
2003 by Senate Bill 459. The legislation interrupting cropland as much as Baumhardt Sand & Gravel, Eden, WI
requires utilities to produce 10% of all possible. Several thousand feet of (920-477-2511), provided aggregate
their electricity from renewable energy directional boring was done in areas products and services.
sources by 2015. where trenching was prohibited. According to Noah, geotextile
In 2002, We Energies issued a Fiber optic lines were installed to fabric was installed as a base for
Request for Proposals (RFP) for wind
energy and in 2003 signed two 80 MW
Power Purchase Agreements (PPA)
with Navitas Energy, Minneapolis, MN,
the original developer of this project.
In June 2005, We Energies purchased
engineering, leases, and some permits
for development of the Blue Sky Green
Field energy center from Navitas.
Since the developer already had land
leases and agreements with the towns
in place, We Energies was able to start
their part of the permitting process in
2006 and received approval by January
2007. Construction began in June 2007.
Construction
According to Noah, the Blue Sky
Green Field energy center cost approxi-
mately $300 million.
Alliant Energy’s RMT WindConnect,
Madison, WI (608-831-4444), was the
Balance of Plant (BOP) contractor.
Boldt Construction, Appleton, WI
(920-739-6321), put in the turbine
foundations and installed the turbines.
Noah says the foundations required 324
yards of concrete weighing 650 tons
plus another 10 tons of rebar and steel.
Hooper Corporation, Madison, WI
(608-249-0451), installed the under-
ground collector system at the wind
farm.
Hooper Corp’s Director of Business
Development Steve Lindley says the
contractor installed approximately
50 miles of medium voltage under-
ground power cable between the
88 wind turbines using 156,941 linear
feet of 1/0 and 4/0 cable, 81,004 feet of
750 MCM, and 17,141 feet of 1000 MCM
cable.
Response No. 211
21
the stone so it won’t sink into the soil. The second week of the year, the across the land without damaging the
The access roads also required area had 50° temperatures and thunder- fields. This reduced the amount of
drainage culverts to make sure water storms with 1½ inches of rain, says remedial soil reclamation required to
moves through fields as it did prior to Noah. That shut down construction for return the properties back to their
the wind farm’s construction. about a week before the ground froze original condition.
“We want to make sure the farmer’s again. In spite of the short delay, the wind
fields experience no undue impact Noah explains that construction had farm was completed by May 19, 2008,
because of our wind turbines,” says been scheduled through the winter less than a year after the start of
Noah. months so cranes—including two construction, concludes Noah.
Michels Wind Energy, Brownsville, Manitowac 16000 cranes—could move Christine Coates, editor
WI (920-583-3132), provided electrical
services.
Waukesha Electric Systems, Blue Sky Gr
Sky een Fields Energy
Green
Waukesha, WI (800-835-2732), manufac-
tured and installed the main substation Center Supplier List
transformer.
Bolts & Fasteners ................................................................................. Fastenal
The power produced at the Blue Sky
Certification & Testing .............................. STS-AECOM, URS Corporation
Green Field energy center is connected
Concrete Services ...............................................................................................
to the grid via lines owned and
.............................. Carew Concrete, United Concrete, Boldt Construction
operated by the American Transmis-
Consulting ....................... RMT, STS-AECOM, Ruekert Mielke, J.E. Arthur
sion Company, Waukesha, WI (ATC/
262-506-6700). Crane Rental ....................... Dawes, United Rentals, Wave Wind, Hennes
“The siting here was very fortu- Data Collection & Analysis ....................................... SGS Inc., STS AECOM
itous in that ATC’s 345 kilovolt (kV) Electrical Contractor ..........................................................................................
transmission lines already ran ..................................... SPE, Michels Wind Energy, Hooper Corp., Zuerhn
through the middle of the project,” Electrical Interconnection ............... Hooper Corp., Michels Wind Energy
says Noah. Electrical System Design ....................................... RMT, AMSC, GE Energy
He says ATC put in their substation, Engineering & Planning .......................................................................... RMT
We Energies installed the wind farm’s Environmental Consulting ............................................. STS-AECOM, RMT
substation adjacent to that, and no Excavation Services .............. Andrews Excavating, Edgerton Contractors
overhead line work was required. Fiber Installation ......................................................... Hooper Corp., Vestas
“The only real challenges we Field Services ................................................................................ STS AECOM
experienced in construction of this Foundations .............................. Boldt Construction, Michels Foundations
wind farm are related to logistics and Generator Services .................................................. Generac Power Systems
the weather,” says Noah. Grid Connection Equipment ................................. AMSC, ABB, GE Energy
Logistics. According to Noah, in 2007 Legal Service ... Michel Best and Friedrich, Quarles & Brady, Stoel Rives
component shipments were required to Lubricants & Filtration Equipment .......... Mobil One, Corey Oil Services
be delivered to the wind farm laydown Permitting ..................................................................................... STS AECOM
yard at night. At 6:00 a.m. the next Substation Design ........................................................................... GE Energy
morning, workers could re-load the
Surveying & Mapping ......................................................... J.E. Arthur, RMT
components and transport them to their
Tower Erection ................................................................. Boldt Construction
respective sites.
Transformer ....................................................... Waukesha Electric Systems
“Since then, we’ve worked out a
Transmission Services ......................... American Transmission Company
better plan for the timing of deliver-
Transportation & Logistics ............... Hennes Services, Lonestar Trucking
ies,” says Noah.
Turbine Performance Monitoring ............................................... GEC/DNV
Weather. Weather conditions
Wind Assessment ........................................................................... GEC/DNV
interrupted construction briefly due to
Wind Turbines ........................................................................................ Vestas
an unexpected thaw during the first
week of January 2008.
22 WIND TODAY Second Quarter 2009
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