Naff wind farm project nears finish

Little more than a month remains in construction of the $170 million Palouse Wind farm on Naff Ridge in northern Whitman County.

Ben Fairbanks, director of west region business development for First Wind, said Tuesday only six of the project’s 58 turbines still needed blades.

Fairbanks expected the “backbone collector” line - the power line that delivers electricity from each string of turbines to the substation - will be energized by the end of the month. The three circuits of towers that have not yet been turned on will be commissioned shortly thereafter.

Construction of the wind farm began in October of 2011.

Palouse Wind has a 30-year contract to deliver about 40 megawatts and as much as 100 megawatts per hour to Avista. The agreement starts at the end of the year, but power from the wind farm has been folded into the Avista grid already.

The two operational circuits have produced 20 megawatts of electricity an hour for several days since they have been turned on. Overall, the wind farm has generated 9,000 megawatts since the first turbines rotated up at the end of September.

Workers have turned in 165,000 combined man hours over the 325 days they have been working on site.

Turbines and construction were shut down for a time last week when Fairbanks said it was “too windy to build a wind farm.” Gusts of up to 60 miles per hour forced blade installation to stop on unfinished turbines and forced the shut-down of the operational turbines.

Fairbanks said the wind provided a good test for the “curtail” systems on the turbines that shut them down in high winds.

The wind farm is expected to generate enough power for about 30,000 homes of Avista customers.