The state ranks seventh in the United States when it comes to wind power, with 3.5 percent of wind in the US being generated in California. A majority of that percentage is onshore wind. For now, the majority of wind turbines are located onshore in the south east of California because it offers the best wind resources. Notably, wind farms are concentrated on the following regions: East San Diego County, the San Gorgonio Pass near Palm Springs, the Mojave Desert and the Tehachapi Mountains. In northern California, Altamont and Solano also have good wind resources and are used as a location frequently. In this article, we introduce you to the three largest wind projects in California.
1) Alta Wind Energy Center in Kern County
The Alta Wind Energy Center in California is not only the largest operational onshore wind farm in California, but also in the entire United States for the moment: It boasts a capacity of 1,548MW. The Alta Wind Energy Center is one of the mentioned areas in the south east of California that offers excellent wind resources: It is located in Tehachapi. Owner and operator of the huge park is New York-based company Terra-Gen Power. The wind park supplies electricity to about 450,000 Californian homes.
Location: Tehachapi mountains, Kern County
Developer/Owner: Terra-Gen Power
2) Tehachapi Pass wind farm
The Tehachapi Mountain Range has around 4,731 wind turbines. They generate about 3,160MW of electricity. A large-scale wind park in that area is the Tehachapi Pass wind farm. This onshore farm was one of the first commercial-scale wind farms to ever be installed in the United States. Construction of the wind farm began in the 1980s. With its 3400 wind turbines, it has an impressive generating capacity of around 710MW.
Location: Tehachapi Pass, Kern County, California
Developer: Zond Corporation
3) Morro Bay floating offshore wind project
A large-scale future development is the Morro Bay project: German utility firm EnBW from Karlsruhe formed a joint venture with US developer Trident Winds to develop an up to 1GW floating offshore wind farm. The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has made a draft environmental assessment for the up to 3GW Morro Bay Wind Energy Area in which the project will be built. The location is within the Morro Bay, about 32km off the coastline in central California. And since the state has set the goal of 25GW offshore wind power by 2045, large-scale offshore developments in this location such as this one would be a large step towards achieving that goal.
Location: Morro Bay, about 32km off the coastline in central California
Developer: EnBW, Trident Winds
Image: Sonika Agarwal via Unsplash (25.07.2023)
