Public agencies key to giving energy to windpower

The announcement a few days ago that a British manufacturer of wind turbines plans a northern Nevada manufacturing plant isn't exactly a done deal.

For all its uncertainties, however, the announcement by Nordic Windpower marks an important step in the efforts of Carson City to bootstrap itself into the front ranks of the renewable-energy business.

Nordic Windpower and Energy Nevada, the company spearheading the renewables business in Carson City, signed a deal in which Nordic agreed to build a plant in northern Nevada to build wind turbines.

The catch? Nordic won't launch the facility until there's a wind-power market in the state big enough to justify construction of a new plant.

Energy Nevada, in announcing the deal, acknowledged that Nevada remains a small market for wind power, especially in comparison with Texas and California.

But Energy Nevada and officials of local government in Carson City are trying to change that.

Their strategy works like this: If public agencies in the region could be convinced to commit to buy electricity from renewable sources, the combined market might be enough to justify the construction of a renewable energy project.

So far, they've convinced Carson-Tahoe Regional Medical Center, the Carson City municipal government and the Reno-based Regional Transportation District to join the group of committed customers.

Ultimately, Energy Nevada and Carson City officials hope government agencies might purchase as much as 100 megawatts of power from renewable sources.

That's equal to about 6 percent of the electricity that Sierra Pacific Power delivers on the hottest days of summer, and it's an amount that would catch the attention of an alternative supplier of energy.

The size of the customer group could become even larger, Energy Nevada officials say, as industrial and commercial users join in.

That's where the second piece of the bootstrapping strategy kicks in.

Energy Nevada, a unit of Princeton Development Corp.

of Sausalito, Calif., has identified four locations where it might develop wind farms that would meet demand from customers committed to the purchase of power from renewable sources.

"We're fairly far along on our own activity," said Steve Taber, the chief executive officer of Energy Nevada.

He says good sites for wind farms are not only windy.

They need to be at spots where construction crews can work, they need to be fairly close to the power grid and they need to be in locations where they'll create minimal environmental problems.

Other developers in the region also are moving forward with wind projects, Taber says.

And that, in turn, gives Energy Nevada and local officials some leverage as they work to bring manufacturers of renewable-energy equipment to the region.

"We're trying to take the lead in developing a customer base for Nordic Windpower," says Taber.

Joe McCarthy, Carson City's director of economic development, says manufacturing of renewable-energy gear was identified as a priority by Carson City residents and elected officials a couple of years ago.

The reason? Carson City has a workforce with a wide range of manufacturing skills and companies experienced in work similar to the development and fabrication of renewable energy equipment.

And a nearby manufacturing location may encourage even more development of wind farms in northern Nevada.

"When you're dealing with wind projects, transportation can be a fairly sizable component of your capital costs," says Taber.

The agreement between Nordic Windpower and Energy Nevada means the turbine manufacturer won't be looking at other states as possible locations for a U.S.

plant.

Mike Robinson, the chief executive officer of Nordic Windpower, says a Nevada plant would ship wind turbines throughout the North American market.

The company's technology a twinblade design rather than the more common three-blade design on wind turbines is designed for lower costs and easier maintenance.

Nordic Windpower says its units are wellsuited to remote locations and difficult terrain.