Wild Horse Wind park

Wild Horse

There are 149 Vestas turbines used at the PSE wind farm in Kittitas.

These photos were taken from the winding road that takes visitors to the tour center near the top of the farm.  

What impressed me the most is the sound/feeling of the air moving around the blades. With a blade tip speed of 150MPH, the turbulence under/near these machines is impressive.

The visitor center is very nice. There were PSE personnel on site that were very informative and welcoming.

The center has on display some very nice models, and examples of the technologies being used at the facility.

I personally liked the touch of a older generation wind mill at the entrance.

To the rear of the visitor center is a small bank of solar cells that produces plenty of power most days to run the visitor center. This renewable aproach to the center was a big plus, and impressed me. It shows their commitment to renewables.

After a very informative presentation in the conference room of the visitors center, we put on hard hats, and safety glasses, and drove up to the top of the wind park. Safety guidelines provided by the state mandated that the wind farm go no farther than 4000 ft, and the top of Whiskey Dick Mountain sits at 3900 ft of elevation. This made installing turbines at the top of the facility impossible, so PSE turned to solar. They installed a 3500 cell array that provides .5 MW of power. The solar array compliments the ups and downs of the wind. On windy days, the skies are gray for the most part, but when the turbines die down, and the air is still, solar seems to be a strong player in the energy dynamic at Wild Horse.

Next we drove down the hill to a turbine that we were able to go inside of. We looked at the PLC, the ladder that heads up the tower sections to the nacelle, and talked about the construction of the wind machine.

This close up view of a wind turbine left me feeling excited for my first climb.  I am feeling more and more passionate about wind energy, and proud to have made a leap of faith in a direction I can believe in.

I feel fortunate, as well as proud to have become involved with renewable energy and look forward to a time in the near future when I can contribute directly to the unfording of the next generation of electricity production. A bright, clean new era.