In 2016,

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

had 268 megawatts (MW) of

wind power Wind power or wind energy is mostly the use of wind turbines to generate electricity. Wind power is a popular, sustainable, renewable energy source that has a much smaller impact on the environment than burning fossil fuels. Historically ...

ed electricity generating capacity, producing 0.5% of in-state generated electricity.

History

Utility-scale wind power in Arizona began in 2009 with the commissioning of the first phase of the Dry Lake Wind Power Project in

Navajo County Navajo County is in the northern part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, its population was 106,717. The county seat is Holbrook. Navajo County comprises the Show Low, Arizona Micropolitan Statistical Area. Navajo County c ...

Installed capacity and wind resources

The following table compares the growth in wind power installed

nameplate capacity Nameplate capacity, also known as the rated capacity, nominal capacity, installed capacity, or maximum effect, is the intended full-load sustained output of a facility such as a power station,

megawatt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...

s (MW) for Arizona and the entire

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

since 2008. Arizona has the potential to install up to 10.9 GW of onshore wind power

at 80 meter, 74.4 GW at 110 meter, or 191.0 GW at 140 meter hub height, generating 585 TWh annually. For comparison, Arizona consumed 69.391 TWh of electricity in 2005; the entire U.S. wind power industry was producing at an annual rate of approximately 50 TWh at the end of 2008; Arizona's

Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station The Palo Verde Generating Station is a nuclear power plant located near Tonopah, Arizona, in western Arizona. It is located about due west of downtown Phoenix, Arizona, and it is located near the Gila River, which is dry save for the rainy seaso ...

produced 26.782 TWh in 2007; and

Three Gorges Dam The Three Gorges Dam is a hydroelectric gravity dam that spans the Yangtze River by the town of Sandouping, in Yiling District, Yichang, Hubei province, central China, downstream of the Three Gorges. The Three Gorges Dam has been the world' ...

(the world's largest electricity-generating station) produced an average of 80 TWh/yr in 2008 and 2009.

Wind farms

Operating

* Dry Lake Wind Power Project in

is Arizona's first utility-scale

wind farm A wind farm or wind park, also called a wind power station or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundred wind turb ...

. Phase 1 consists of 30

Suzlon Suzlon Energy Limited (NSE:SUZLONEQ, BSE:532667) is an Indian multinational wind turbine manufacturer based in Pune, India. It was formerly ranked by MAKE as the world's fifth largest wind turbine supplier.Source: MAKE Report: Global Wind Turb ...

2.1 MW

wind turbine A wind turbine is a device that converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. Hundreds of thousands of large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, now generate over 650 gigawatts of power, with 60 GW added each yea ...

s, for a total

of 63 MW. Iberdrola Renewables built the wind farm in 2009 for $100 million, and sells the output to Salt River Project. *Chevelon Butte phase 1. On June 1, 2023 AES announced that phase one of the Chevelon Butte project began operations. This portion brings 238 megawatts to the Arizona power grid. The second phase, which is 216 megawatts will begin construction soon with plans to be operational in 2024 * Kingman Wind Farm, built in 2011, has 10 MW of wind turbines. * Perrin Ranch Wind Farm in Coconino County began operation in 2012 with 62 wind turbines, generating 99.2 MW of electricity. * Fort Huachuca has an 850 KW two blade wind turbine installed in 2011. * Red Horse 2 Wind and Solar Project has 30 MW of wind turbines installed in 2015.

Planned

* As of 2012, BP Wind Energy of North America proposed building the Mohave County Wind Farm project comprising up to 258 wind turbines on federally managed lands in Mohave County. The site – about 49,000 acres of public land – is in the White Hills area about 40 miles northwest of Kingman and 20 miles southeast of Hoover Dam. The project should have up to 500 MW of capacity and construction may be in phases. Transmission lines are planned to connect to existing Western Area Power Administration lines. The project was sold to

NextEra Energy NextEra Energy, Inc. is an American energy company with about 58 GW of generating capacity (24 GW of which were from fossil fuel sources), revenues of over $18 billion in 2020, and about 14,900 employees throughout the US and Canada. It is the ...

and renamed the White Hills Wind Project. Larger turbines will be used, reducing the number needed. An interconnection to WAPA's Mead-Peacock 345-kV transmission line was approved by WAPA in May 2019. Construction of the 127 turbine farm began in 2020, with initial power output expected by the end of the year. Southern California Clean Power Alliance has signed a 20-year power purchase agreement for 300 MW from the wind farm. * Utility-scale wind power at Babbitt Ranch Energy Center. Construction began on March 22, 2023 of a 161 Megawatt wind energy project in Coconino county. The project was proposed by NextEra Resources and SRP plans to start delivering power in 2024 *Chevelon Butte. AES is planning and in construction on a 454 megawatt wind project in Coconino and Navajo counties 20 miles south of Winslow, Arizona. The project is to be completed in two phases, the first 238 megawatt phase is expected to be fully operational before summer 2023. With the second 216 megawatt phase to be operational sometime in 2024. The second phase turbines are being provided by Vestas, a Danish manufacturer. *West Camp Wind Farm. AES has received approval from the Navajo County board of Supervisors for a 500 megawatt, 104 turbine, wind farm 10 miles south of Joesph City, Arizona. A timeline for construction has yet to be provided, but AES announced plans to connect the project to the Electric grid by taking the transmission capacity from the

Cholla Power Plant The Cholla Power Plant is a 1.02-gigawatt (1,021 MW), coal power plant near Joseph City, Arizona, United States. The plant is jointly owned by Arizona Public Service (APS) and PacifiCorp. The plant began operations in 1962. History The coal bu ...

when that coal power station closes in 2025.

Small-scale wind power

Flagstaff is the home of Southwest Windpower. The

ASU School of Sustainability School of Sustainability is the first school in the United States dedicated to exploring the principles of sustainability. The school was established in 2006 at Arizona State University. The School offers a BA and BS in Sustainability, a BS in Sus ...

Tempe, Arizona , settlement_type = City , named_for = Vale of Tempe , image_skyline = Tempeskyline3.jpg , imagesize = 260px , image_caption = Tempe skyline as se ...

features an array of

small wind turbine Small wind turbines, also known as micro wind turbines, are used for microgeneration of electricity, as opposed to large commercial wind turbines, such as those found in wind farms. Small wind turbines often have passive yaw systems as opposed ...

s on its roof, with real-time data available to the public through the ASU Campus Metabolism web site.

Environmental impact

According to the

USDOE The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and manages the research and development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons in the United States. ...

, each 1000 MW of wind power capacity installed in Arizona will annually save 818 million gallons of water and eliminate 2.0 million tons of

carbon dioxide emissions Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities strengthen the greenhouse effect, contributing to climate change. Most is carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. The largest emitters include coal in China and la ...

. For comparison, Arizona emitted a total of 101,510,000

tonne The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United State ...

s of carbon dioxide in 2007.CO2 Emissions from Fossil Fuel Combustion - Million Metric Tons CO2
/ref>

History

Installed capacity and wind resources

Wind farms

Operating

Planned

Small-scale wind power

Environmental impact

Wind generation

See also

References

External links