Wind farm may be on the way for Sandia, Kirtland Air Force Base

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May 20, 2008

Wind farm may be on the way for Sandia, Kirtland Air Force Base

Wind Department seeks industry interest in a 30-MW farm on base

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories and Kirtland Air Force Base may soon share a wind farm that will provide as much as one-third of the electricity used by the two entities.

The Labs’ Wind Energy Technology Department and the U.S. Department of Energy Wind and Hydropower Technologies Program have embarked on a project to determine if such a plant is viable and to build a roughly 30-megawatt (MW) farm on the air base. A private company would design, build, and operate the farm, and DOE/National Nuclear Security Administration, Sandia and Kirtland would buy the electricity.

Wind Energy Department Manager Jose Zayas says the project — called Sandia Wind Farm Feasibility Project — is part of the DOE Transformational Energy Action Management (TEAM) initiative. According to Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, the TEAM initiative goal is to “maximize installation of secure, on-site renewable energy projects at all DOE sites.” In addition to installing renewable energy, other DOE goals are to reduce energy use by 30 percent and use third parties to finance the projects. The project would also be a way to reduce energy intensity and greenhouse gas emissions, increase use and efficiency of renewable energy technologies, and adopt sustainable design practices as called for in President Bush’s January 2007 Executive Order 13423.

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