The western state of Utah can earn as much as $310 million annually on top of creating 7,000 green collar jobs – if only it takes full advantage of its immense renewable energy potential, especially in wind power.
Nonprofit organization Utah Clean Energy examined the impact of reducing electricity consumption by 20 percent and drawing 20 percent of the remaining electricity needs from renewable energy sources by 2020 in Utah, which has one of the fastest growing populations in the United States.
The group’s report, entitled Building the Clean Energy Economy, shows that investments in the renewable energy sector can also lead to a $300 million net annual increase in gross domestic product.
It also reveals that Utah has immense renewable energy potential waiting to be tapped. The renewable energy sources included in the 20 percent clean energy scenario represents only a fraction of the state’s technical renewable energy potential.
The scenario suggests a renewable resource model of 475 megawatts for wind energy generation, the most ambitious set-up suggested by the clean energy scenario.
The scenario also proposes a 241-MW resource model for geothermal generation, 150 MW for concentrating solar power with storage, 84 MW for residential and commercial solar photovoltaic distributed electricity and 23 MW for the biomass sector.
However, Utah’s renewable energy capacity is largely based on hydropower only, with 255 MW of capacity, while it does not have significant capacities in solar, wind and biomass.
Strong winds in Utah
A study of the state’s energy landscape by the Department of Natural Resources shows that Utah’s wind energy resources are considerably affected by the state’s extremely diverse landscape and climate. This is why the state has a wide array of locations that are suitable for wind energy development.
There are 91 wind sites in Utah, sprinkled across 24 of the state’s 29 counties. A wind resource analysis integrated several criteria to identify which of these sites are appropriate for wind energy development.
Environmentally sensitive areas were screened out; a maximum elevation of 9,500 feet was set; lands that are too rugged for development as well as those under the military’s airspace were listed out; and a General Electric 1.5 SLE wind turbine was used to estimate the electrical energy generating capacity in the identified sites.
The Utah Renewable Energy Zone task force, which was created in 2008 to examine and identify the state’s local renewable energy resources capable of generating electricity on a utility scale, applied the screening criteria to all potential wind sites. It found 51 suitable wind zones that combine for a potential installed capacity of over 9,145 MW.
Utah’s wind energy sector saw a breakthrough in 2008 when the state’s first commercial wind farm rose in Spanish Fork. First Wind’s Milford wind corridor project in Beaver and Millard counties also began in the same year.
In November, the first phase of the wind corridor project was completed, making available more than 203 MW of clean energy to the state. The 97 wind turbines of the project’s first phase can provide energy to power an estimated 45,000 homes annually. The project also created over 250 development and construction jobs – but this is only the tip of the iceberg.
According to the task force, 12 wind sites account for a potential installed capacity of at least 1,830 MW –or 20 percent of the total potential installed capacity of all 51 wind sites.
But the greatest concentration of wind resource in the state is located in an area near Milford, a city located in a valley a few miles east of the geographical center of Beaver County.
The task force pointed out that the areas of Sevier Desert, Black Rock, Milford North, Wah Wah Valley, Milford South, Mineral Mountains, Black Mountains and Chipman Peak have a combined potential capacity of 2,500 MW.
Utah Clean Energy suggests that the state can easily hit two birds with one stone – satisfy its growing energy demand and reduce local carbon emissions and fuel prices – if it implements aggressive energy efficiency and renewable energy policies, as well as maximizes available technology. Being the new American clean energy leader is certainly within its reach.
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