LotusWorks USA is seeking a hardware upgrade to 3MW for its proposed 194.4MW Summit Ridge wind project in Oregon.
The developer has asked the state Energy Facility Siting Council to add the configuration to the list of approved machines. It is also seeking to transfer the site certificate and extend construction milestones by two years.
The current deadline to start work is August 2016 and the project is to be completed by August 2019. The developer “fully intends” to start construction before that date however regulatory delays and design changes could affect the schedule, LotusWorks said in a filing to the council.
Since the project was approved in 2011 there have been significant technical advancements, “especially turbines designed to service lower wind speed sites such as Summit Ridge”, said the developer. The existing certificate outlines the use of 72 turbines of 2.7MW.
Use of a 3MW unit would trim total capacity to 192MW and cut the maximum number of turbines to 64. The machines under consideration have a 84-metre hub height, 132-metre rotor diameter and 151-metre tip height.
Transfer of the site certificate would shift the paperwork from LotusWorks Summit Ridge I LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lotus Group USA, to Summit Ridge Wind Holdings, LLC.
The Summit Ridge project area covers 11,000 acres of privately-owned land in northeastern Wasco County. It is proposed to interconnect via a seven-mile 230kV transmission line to the Big Eddy-Maupin 230kV line.
Comments on the site certificate amendment application may be submitted through 18 April.
Image: a number of suppliers provide 3MW hardware (Siemens)
