PacifiCorp’s Vice President of Renewable Resource Acquisition Mark Tallman said that the company hoped to break ground in the fourth quarter of 2009 and believes there are economic advantages to building in 2010.
“Certainly we believe we will get desirable construction costs. There aren’t a lot of wind projects being constructed in 2010,” Tallman said. “There’s kind of that little lull following the big dip in the economic downturn. For the most part, the industry is looking at 2011 as kind of being the year the wind industry really gets back going full force.”
Dunlap I does not have any complications associated with the greater sage grouse.
Tallman said that neither the Dunlap I project nor a potential 126-turbine expansion of the project, known as Dunlap II, overlaped with state-identified core habitat areas for the birds.
“That was a very large decision factor in us pursuing development of this site,” Tallman said.
Carbon county has already given conditional use permits for the Dunlap I wind farm and substation, but the company still needs county building permits.
Rocky Mountain Power has also applied for a permit from the state’s Industrial Siting Division, which has permitting authority over projects.
“The Industrial Siting Council is ready to approve our permit and now we’re waiting the final order, which should be out shortly,” Tallman said.
Rocky Mountain Power’s application to the Industrial Siting Division also includes Dunlap II, the project’s potential second phase, but Tallman said that the company has not set a development timeline for the second phase.
Tallman said that the energy produced at Dunlap I wind farm will be fed into PacifiCorp’s power grid. He said the project was not dependent on Rocky Mountain Power’s proposed Gateway West transmission line, a project with Idaho Power Company to build a line to export Wyoming wind and other power to Idaho and other points.
