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Virginia Peak Wind Project
The Virginia Peak Project - Washoe County
Virginia Peak Wind Company, LLC (the Company), a wholly owned subsidiary of Nevada Wind, LLC (NVW), has applied for a Special Use Permit from WASHOE COUNTY to construct, operate, and maintain a 60 to 150 megawatt (MW) wind powered generation facility on approximately 3,500 acres of private land. The fully constructed Project would consist of between 25 and 65 (approximately 101 to 132 MW depending upon which turbine selected) wind turbines to be located along the ridgeline of the Pah Rah range in Washoe County, Nevada. This mountain range includes Virginia Peak, Pah Rah Peak, and north of the Pond Peak area and is located about approximately 20 miles northeast of the town of Sparks, Nevada. The elevation of the proposed Project area which is dotted with Microwave Towers ranges from approximately 6,800 to 8,600 feet above mean sea level.
The first view is a ground level view of the proposed turbine field at the intersection of Pyramid Highway and Ironwood Road just southwest of the BLM wild horse corrals. From this vantage point the closest turbine lies 10.8 miles away and would just be seen on a clear day as shown in Photo Simulation of Turbines Figure below. Note, many of the turbines are partially obscured by hills in the foreground. As such, this vantage point may provide the best view possible of the proposed turbine layout. The Figure shows the perspective view close to the mountain range at Wilcox Canyon and Quaking Aspen Road. The photos show the wind turbines in black which enhances the view in the photo. Normally the Turbine are white as the white color blends into the horizon better and virtually disappears from view from this distance in a photo. Driving east the foreground hills would raise on the horizon until eventually these hills would block most if not all the turbines from view.
The Plan of Development for the Virginia Peak Project consists of five major construction categories. Each of these categories contains various components as detailed in Table 1 Below:
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Table 1 Major Project Construction Categories |
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Major Category |
Components |
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Wind Apparatuses |
Wind Turbine Generators WTG Corridors Anemometers |
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Electrical Structures |
Underground Utility Lines Overhead Electric Distribution Lines Electric Substation |
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Roads |
Access and Service Roads Access Roads |
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Construction Areas |
Lay down Area/Batch Plant Electric Line Tensioning and Pulling Sites |
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Facilities |
Operations and Maintenance Facility Relay and Control Equipment Facility |
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Access to the project area would be by way of four roads as shown in Construction Haul Route Figure Figure; Ironwood Road to its end and right on Amy Road, then onto Wilcox Canyon Road (identified in black as a Entry Roads from Pyramid Highway),. At Quaking Aspen Road the road goes east up the mountain where at the split of Microwave Road and Quaking Aspen road up Microwave road (identified in black as a Existing Project Access Roads). A transmission line would be built south of Warms Springs Valley about 18 miles to Sierra Pacific Tracy substation near Interstate 80.
The Project calls for only a total of approximately 288.5 acres of temporary disturbance and 98.1 acres of permanent displacement. The Project on both a macro and micro level would provide substantial economic and environmental benefits, including:
- less dependence on conventional fossil fuels and its price increases
- clean environmentally benign energy
- no water required for operation
- enough energy to support a community of 40,000 and 60,000 residences from 44 and 70 turbines respectively
- project will create from 100 to 200 local Construction jobs
- material purchases and job creating from local industry
- tax revenue
- revenue to Private Land owners
- energy production now accounts for about 60% of the air pollution emissions in the United States and this project would on the average reduce global warming by up to 6,000,000 tons of greenhouse gases.
Washoe County's goal of producing electricity from green power is encouraging as it will reduce the dependency on fossil fuels, one the largest emissions of air pollutants in the United States; along with the increases in the acres being burnt, do to wild fires, in Nevada and resultant loss of wildlife and bird habitat.
After extensive review the issues associated with Global Warming such as increased loss of habitat (from wild fires), air emissions (from fires and coal power plants) resulting in bird deaths the National Audubon Society has endorsed wind energy. "Birds are 10,000 times more likely-at least-to be killed by other human related causes (E.g., by Buildings, vehicles, pet cats, pesticides, etc.) than by a wind turbine without including hunting. Granted, no one in the Audubon Society, or any other environmentally conscious organization-wants to see any birds killed at all. When talking about bird mortality totals one of the areas of grave concern is Global warming and the massive, wholesale destruction of wildlife habitat Global Warming is already creating." The National and Nevada Wildlife Association also endorsed wind energy for Nevada for similar reasons. Careful siting and mitigation measures will be enacted as well as after project monitoring.