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Port Ready for Parts for Wild Horse Wind Farm by Bill Stewart The Oregonian, April 27, 2006

Kittitas County - The project 11 miles east of Ellensburg will have 127 generators

VANCOUVER -- For the second time in seven months, the makings of a wind farm will be moved through the Port of Vancouver, starting in late May.

This one will be assembled as the Wild Horse Wind Project in Kittitas County, 11 miles east of Ellensburg, near the Columbia River. The previous wind farm was built at Hopkins Ridge near Walla Walla. Both projects are owned by Puget Sound Energy, based in Bellevue.

The first facility, with 83 wind-powered generators, provided an estimated 13,000 work hours for longshoremen, crane operators and truck drivers delivering components to the site. No estimate has been released for Wild Horse, but it includes 127 generators.

Once operating, the wind farm will have a resident staff of 14, according to PSE spokesman Dave Reid.

The generators will be assembled on site by Vestas Wind Systems of Denmark. Vestas spokeswoman Bridget Hutchinson in Portland said Wednesday that the turbines will be similar in size and output to those placed at Hopkins Ridge.

Wild Horse is expected to be on line late this year, producing 230 megawatts of electricity at peak output. That's enough to sustain about 76,000 homes. Puget Sound Energy has about 1 million customers in Washington state, primarily in the Sound area.

At a Port of Vancouver meeting Tuesday, marketing director Alastair Smith said the wind farm components will be unloaded from ships, then temporarily stored in a newly prepared cargo area until specific units are needed at Ellensburg.