Wind power in California

The initiative and early development of wind power in California came during Governor Jerry Brown's first two terms in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The state's wind power capacity has grown by nearly 350% since 2001, when it was less than 1,700 MW. According to the California Wind Energy Association (CalWEA), as of 2020, California had approximately 5,787 MW of wind energy capacity installed across the state. In 2020, wind projects in California generated 13,703 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity, accounting for 7.2% of all power generated within the state. Additionally, California imported 16,635 GWh of wind energy from out-of-state projects, representing 20% of total power imports. Combined, wind energy supplied 11% of California's total system power in 2020, enough to power the homes in Sacramento, San Francisco, and Los Angeles counties combined. Most of California's wind generation is found in the Tehachapi area of Kern County, with some large projects in Solano, Contra Costa and Riverside counties as well. California is among the states with the largest amount of installed wind power capacity. In recent years, California has lagged behind other states when it comes to the installation of wind power. It was ranked 4th overall for wind power electrical generation at the end of 2016, behind Texas, Iowa, and Oklahoma. As of 2019, California had 5,973 MW of wind power generating capacity installed.

History

California was the first U.S. state where large wind farms were developed, beginning in the early 1980s. By 1995, California produced 30 percent of the entire world's wind-generated electricity. Wind power in Texas surpassed the production in California to become the leader in the United States.

Historically, most of California's wind power output has been in three primary regions: Altamont Pass wind farm (east of San Francisco); Tehachapi Pass wind farm (south east of Bakersfield) and San Gorgonio Pass wind farm (near Palm Springs, east of Los Angeles). A fourth area, the Montezuma Hills of Solano County, was developed in 2005–2009, with the large Shiloh wind power plant.

The Alta Wind Energy Center is a wind farm located in Tehachapi Pass in Kern County. Kern County is reviewing a number of other proposed wind projects that would generate a combined 4,600 megawatts of renewable energy if approved.

+ Large wind farms in California Name Location Capacity (MW) Status Altamont Pass wind farm Alameda County 576 Operational Alta Wind Energy Center Kern County 1548 Operational Ocotillo wind energy project Imperial County 315 Operational San Gorgonio Pass wind farm Riverside County 615 Operational Shiloh wind power plant Solano County 505 Operational Tehachapi Pass wind farm Kern County 705 Operational Tule wind energy project San Diego County 131.1 Operational

Growth

California wind generation capacity by year California wind generation by year Megawatts of wind capacity,1999-2020WINDExchange: U.S. Installed and Potential Wind Capacity and GenerationGigawatt-hours generated per year,2001-2020

In 2011, 921.3 MW of new production capacity was installed: mostly in the Tehachapi area of Kern County, with some big projects in Solano, Contra Costa and Riverside counties as well.2012 Third Quarter Market Report, American Wind Energy Association

California had a total of 5,662 MW of installed wind generation capacity at the end of 2015. After leading the country for many years, in 2016 California ranked fourth nationwide in terms of capacity, behind Texas, Iowa, and Oklahoma. In 2016, California used about 285,700 GWh and generated 13,500 GWh of wind energy in-state.

Wind energy supplied about 6.9% of California's total electricity needs in 2017 (including power supplied from other states), and 7.35% in 2019. By the end of 2019, installed wind generation capacity had increased to 5,973 MW.

Due to higher average wind speeds in the plains area of the U.S., California ranked fifth in wind generation in 2018.

In January 2018, the Tule Wind Project came online. Located in eastern San Diego County, the facility has 57 wind turbines which collectively generate 131.1 MW of electricity. There are plans to expand this project by an additional 24 turbines in the future. In its current configuration, the installation is able to power an estimated 40,000 homes. CAISO tested the wind farm's synchronverter in 2018, and found it could perform some of the grid services similar or better than traditional generators.Tuel Wind Power Plant Test Results CAISO, 2019

In February 2018, Scout Clean Energy of Colorado won the rights to modernize the Gonzaga Ridge wind farm which is located in Pacheco State Park. Rated at 16.5 MW, the Gonzaga Ridge facility currently uses 1980s era wind turbines which are smaller, less cost-effective, and overall far less efficient at generating energy than those which currently being produced. The electrical output of Gonzaga Ridge after modernization is projected to be between 65 MW and 80 MW.

Offshore wind

A 2009 Stanford University study of California offshore wind potential identified a site off Cape Mendocino that could provide uninterrupted year-round power from a 1500 MW wind farm that would produce an average of 790 MW. Three types of offshore wind power were studied, with the conclusion that from 12,300 to 19,700 GWh/yr could be delivered from 1,997 to 3,331 MW of monopile wind turbines installed in up to , from 38,200 to 73,000 GWh/yr could be delivered from 6,202 to 12,374 MW of multi-leg wind turbines in , and from 462,100 to 568,200 GWh/yr from 73,025 to 91,707 MW of floating turbine foundation wind turbines in from ,California offshore wind energy potential such as those being studied for use off the coast of Maine by the Ocean Energy Institute and the DeepCwind Consortium.

In April 2018, several power development companies joined with Redwood Coast Energy Authority to explore the idea of creating a large-scale wind farm off of the Northern California coast. Deep water has hindered development off the coast of California, making the use floating turbines more feasible than fixed turbines. The group decided to propose instead. RCEA and the development companies intended to file a lease with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in the summer of 2018 for the 120-150 MW project. The Humboldt Project site was just over west of Eureka, California with an estimated date of completion in 2024.

In 2021 the Biden administration approved large areas off the coast California for development of wind farms with floating turbines. In 2022, the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) issued a statement of no significant environmental impact, and California set a target of 25 GW of offshore wind by 2045.

Annual generation

California wind generation (GWh) Year Total Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 2001 3,499 133 148 300 393 378 438 440 408 293 253 143 172 2002 3,800 131 153 267 409 478 557 443 476 295 284 158 149 2003 3,896 109 193 326 424 453 549 432 396 340 285 188 201 2004 4,305 130 201 288 399 634 683 588 492 359 259 155 117 2005 4,261 175 150 334 429 551 584 497 384 404 322 217 214 2006 4,883 281 215 389 430 577 596 538 500 402 396 292 267 2007 5,586 233 307 442 612 732 729 675 600 486 349 188 233 2008 5,385 271 262 450 538 691 658 700 648 406 298 223 240 2009 5,840 150 245 442 603 701 850 879 679 480 406 235 170 2010 6,080 150 221 399 546 689 867 925 731 551 372 305 324 2011 7,749 234 429 612 960 1,026 1,021 869 908 522 415 428 325 2012 9,754 419 581 769 768 1,316 1,362 1,001 1,001 697 776 385 679 2013 12,820 482 727 1,056 1,550 1,740 1,631 1,413 1,297 1,158 750 556 460 2014 12,993 500 831 1,055 1,306 1,766 1,858 1,408 1,286 953 759 705 566 2015 12,229 187 619 826 1,262 1,681 1,668 1,445 1,523 815 667 619 917 2016 13,508 691 528 1,305 1,325 1,596 1,670 1,697 1,472 996 935 528 765 2017 12,824 815 751 954 1,212 1,644 1,638 1,417 1,642 1,217 839 452 243 2018 14,025 424 887 1,060 1,234 1,929 1,784 1,565 1,645 1,259 1,029 639 570 2019 13,736 537 1,054 1,091 1,475 1,838 1,564 1,674 1,469 1,210 877 467 480 2020 13,582 763 780 1,131 1,521 1,553 1,722 1,691 1,440 797 868 664 652 2021 15,628 1,065 1,041 1,590 1,645 1,676 1,336 1,093 1,331 1,011 1,268 1,187 1,385 2022 16,018 1,187 1,204 1,551 1,746 1,864 1,503 1,473 1,105 888 1,006 1,284 1,207 2023 4,223 1,381 1,305 1,537 Source:

+California wind generation in 2014

+California wind generation in 2015

Wind power in California

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