A wind farm of up to 450 MW could soon join the rush of wind developments sprouting in the Oregon-Washington border region. Orion Energy LLC has filed a Notice of Intent (NOI) to Apply for a Site Certificate with the Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council. Oakland, Calif.-based Orion hopes to erect as many as 225 turbines in Sherman County, Ore., near the Columbia River Gorge. Construction could begin in the third quarter of 2006.
The NOI describes a wind farm with a 34.5-kV power collection system that would run both underground and overhead. The manufacturer has not yet been chosen, but the NOI specifies turbine sizes of 1.5 MW and 3 MW.