Sandia National Laboratories Wind Farm Project:
Plans for Fiscal Year 2009

Appreciation is expressed to the members of industry who responded to the Request for Information (RFI). Many detailed recommendations were received and some of these have been incorporated into plans. Our original intentions were to list these recommendations here but it has been assessed that some approaches might offer competitive advantage, and detailed listing might also not be in the spirit of eventual competitive bidding. Plans are to minimize risks for the bidders as much as possible for a complex project until feasibility is assessed and a project approach has been decided.

The objective is to determine the feasibility of a federal procurement and Renewable Energy use from a wind farm owned and operated by industry but sited on federal lands occupied and administered by Sandia and Kirtland Air Force Base (KAFB). Specific criteria (some of which was provided by industry responses to the RFI) for procurement will derive from characterization of the wind resource and conceptual scoping of a wind plant with identification of issues for resolution. Scoping parameters are in the areas of wind resource, land use and approvals, R&D and Defense missions, use of energy and infrastructure, and cost/benefits.

Installation of a 30 meter anemometer tower was accomplished over summer and environmental approval of a 50 meter anemometer tower is pending. Wind data reports will be provided in the future at this website. Prior to any issuance of a procurement vehicle by the NNSA (Albuquerque) service center, criteria will be identified for assessing siting and infrastructure issues. Regulatory and permitting preparations will be addressed for Base or Sandia siting, base operational constraints (including the environmental issues), and development of a procurement approach compatible for NNSA service center purchase of energy from a sited wind plant (i.e. power purchase agreement, enhanced use lease, and other options). This effort will be coordinated with a Renewable System Interconnection (RSI) study of the utility system interactions.

After the issues have been identified and cataloged, resolution activities will proceed to eliminate or mitigate items of priority. Characterization of the selected issue impacts will demonstrate the steps needed to solve issues so that the procurement package can proceed with lessened risks or delays during the planned environmental assessment/procurement period.

Since we are currently not in an active procurement, industry is invited to contact the following individuals directly with questions or comments. This website will provide periodic status updates.

Click to email Roger Hill, or call him at (202) 586-0960
Click to email Ben Karlson, or call him at (505) 844-9844