Idaho's Wind Power Potential Could
Mean Millions in State Revenues
 
IDAHO DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES
Boise, Idaho - Feb. 25, 2002
Release 2002-14
 
New scientific data developed for the Federal government shows Idaho has the potential to generate up to $2 million a year in state income just by allowing wind developers to lease state endowment lands for wind power generation projects, energy specialists with the Idaho Energy Division said today.
 
The state income could actually mushroom to up to $20 million per year if the state also received power offsets or green energy sales credits, according to the newly released preliminary data. The state has some 39,500 acres of land with Class 4-7 wind with the potential to supply some 660 megawatts of electricity. That's enough electricity to supply 148,300 homes, according to the preliminary data prepared for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Colorado, an element of the U.S. Department of Energy...Statewide, Idaho has about 740,000 acres of Class 4-7 wind with the potential to produce 12,355 megawatts of electricity, enough for 2.78 million households. The figure does not include protected areas such as parks, wilderness areas, research natural areas, etc., which were not considered.
 
Class 4 winds are generally accepted as the minimum necessary for large-scale wind production projects. Class 4 winds range from 15.7 to 16.8 miles per hour. Class 7 winds range from 19.7 to 24.8 miles per hour.
 
The lease income figures are based on simply allowing wind developers to lease the land with payments to the state averaging $3,000 per megawatt. That's a typical amount annual payment for a single commercial wind generation turbine. The $20 million figure is based on the state receiving 1 cent per kilowatt-hour being directed to the state through power offsets or green energy sales. The preliminary analysis was prepared for NREL by Green Info Network and Northwest SEED using data from a newly revised wind power potential map of Idaho.
 
The analysis shows that that Idaho endowment lands have the following estimated wind power potential:
 
Wind Class Acres Potential Megawatts Potential Households
Class 4 23,761 397 84,438
Class 5 8,223 138 31,048
Class 6 5,693 95 24,024
Class 7 1,779 30 8,693
Total 39,456 660 148,203
 
Statewide, excluding protected areas, the data analysis shows Idaho has the following wind power potential:
 
Wind Class Acres Potential Megawatts Potential Households
Class 4 438,771 7,338 1,559,240
Class 5 158,342 2,648 597,860
Class 6 104,256 1,744 439,959
Class 7 37,994 635 185,650
Total 739,363 12,366 2,782,709
 
For more information on Idaho wind power, visit the Energy Division Wind Power web site at www.idwr.state.id.us/Wind. The site also provides wind power resource maps for Idaho which show the areas of the state with wind power potential.