Spring Valley Wind

Spring Valley Wind is a located in White Pine County, Nevada. The facility was Nevada's first commercial wind power project and continues to be the only wind facility in the state.

Community

The facility is centrally, albeit remotely, located with major cities and monuments four hours in every direction: Salt Lake City to the northeast, Reno due west, Las Vegas to the south, and  Wheeler Peak to the east. Despite being located next to the “loneliest highway in America,” our site is an active part of the local community. The facility contributes to local causes through sponsorships and donations, such as the rotary club, local schools, and junior sports teams. 

Spring Valley Wind has partnered with Great Basin College to fund engineering and energy-focused education programs. The facility also contributed to law enforcement, emergency services, and the library.

Environment

Spring Valley Wind is situated on approximately 7,680 acres of federal land administered by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. The facility can power 45,000 homes. When compared to coal-fired generation, the site annually offsets the emissions equivalent of 50,000 cars and conserves enough water to supply the needs of 20,000 people.

To build the facility, we collaborated with White Pine County, the State of Nevada, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, NV Energy, and several federal agencies and environmental groups, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Nevada Department of Wildlife, and the Sierra Club. Efforts included helping to repopulate the local flora to support healthy populations of deer and elk.

Technology

The 152 MW facility consists of 66 Siemens 2.3 MW turbines that commenced commercial operation in August 2012. All of the facility's output, including electricity generation and environmental attributes, is sold to NV Energy under a long-term power purchase agreement. Spring Valley Wind connects to the NV Energy transmission system.