A Trip to a Wind Farm

Have you ever wondered anything about the enormous windmills that turn on the crests of mountains across the United States? These are all part of a trend to further develop wind power as a clean source of electricity. 

Sign at entrance off Vantage Highway in Kittitas, WA.

In Kittitas County there is a PUD wind farm called Wild Horse Wind and Solar Facility on the western side of the Columbia River. On the other side of the river there is mesa which features metal statues of wild mustangs.

These metal sculptures on a mesa above the Columbia River
remind folks that once the land belonged to wild horses and
native peoples. The walk up to the sculptures is worth it.

The facility began construction in 2005 and opened to the public in 2008.

If you look carefully you can see the wind turbines on the ridge.

The area where the wind farm has been established is an archeological treasure for the several tribes who, over the centuries, roamed and lived on the foothills of the Cascades.  Carefully researched and evaluated by PUD, the facility has made a huge effort to preserve lands and protect wildlife that still inhabit the area.

Driving up the road to the visitor center, one
gets a closer view with each mile.

Eons ago there was an enormous lake which is called today
"Lake Missoula" by archeologists. This lake burst its dam,
causing enormous changes in Montana, Idaho and Wash-
ington creating much of the landscape of the Basin. When
Wayne was in school he wrote a paper on this event.

I took the one-hour tour of the facility which included a view up inside the tower and standing just outside and underneath the 351-ft. tower was impressive as you looked up at three blades, each 120 ft. in length, turning quietly to capture the 40-plus gusts of wind that day. 

It is truly a a global effort to manufacture and install these Vesta V80 wind turbines as parts are manufactured all over the world.

There are limiters on the system to keep the blades from running wild so they don’t overwork the mechanics and overwhelm the carefully managed delivery of electricity to the grid. 

These 149 wind ‘mills’ are generating electricity that is sent to the Bonneville distribution center and so I was watching power gathering that will be eventually delivered to folks in Clallam County and other parts of western Washington. The total potential at the farm is power for 70,000 homes.

One of the turbines driving the Vesta windmills.

Looking down the inside of one of the blades; made of fiber
glass this particular one was damaged beyond use.

This informational panel tells a lot about the facility and a little bit about
the construction process. The tour guides are very well informed and can
answer a lot of questions in a variety of areas relating to the facility.

There are also solar array fields which are being used for research and to power the visitor center.

Several years ago on one of my road trips, I remember seeing a couple of trucks hauling these blades. How interesting that I should finally come to where they were installed (or some very like them).

Parking lot at the visitor center of the wind farm. 

It is not too surprising that the facility is visited by folks from distant states and countries. On our tour there were some Japanese folks. I overheard the answer to the question, "How many visitors come here each year?" The answer was "Anywhere from 14 to 20 thousand a year." Wow!

I highly recommend finding time to take the trip and the tour, making it all part of a visit to the beautiful Columbia River basin.

Standing in proximity to the turbine.

I persuaded the tour guide to take my photo on the way to see
the interior of the turbine tower. The wind was blowing hard
and cold. I had two layers and that still was lacking... like
the hard hat? Required with safety glasses for the tour.