Renewable Energy Leaders and Sherman County Community Celebrate the State's Newest Wind Power Projects
October 2, 2008
WHO & WHAT:
Renewable energy leaders join hundreds of families from rural Sherman County to celebrate the state's newest wind power projects, Klondike III and IIIa. Klondike Wind Power Projects is also host to next-generation wind power technology.
- Rachel Shimshak, Director, Renewable Northwest Project
- Dr. Susan Wolff, Chief Academic Officer, Columbia Gorge Community College
- Chip Dale, Regional Manager, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
- Don Furman, Senior Vice President for Development, Transmission, and Policy, Iberdrola Renewables
- Landowners John and Gordon Hilderbrand
- A representative from Bonneville Power Administration
- Commissioner Ron Farmer, Eugene Water & Electric Board
WHEN & WHERE:
Monday, Oct. 6, 2008
Klondike Operations Center
Klondike Lane, east of Wasco, Ore.
10 a.m.-11 a.m. Speaker program and ribbon cutting ceremony
11 a.m.-1 p.m. Live remote and photo opportunities as guests tour the Klondike wind turbines and a training nacelle, showing the turbine gearbox and generator
BACKGROUND:
This special community celebration marks the official opening of Iberdrola Renewables' Klondike III and IIIa Wind Power Projects near Wasco. The event is open to the public and will include local school children and families from the community as well as energy business leaders and landowners.
Today, the Klondike Wind Power Projects feature 242 turbines and a 400-megawatt (MW) capacity for generating clean, renewable energy for more than 115,000 homes served by Puget Sound Energy, Eugene Water & Electric Board, Bonneville Power Administration, and others.
The Klondike III project is the North American test site for the flagship Mitsubishi 2.4 megawatt (MW), 92-meter rotor wind turbine manufactured in Japan. The turbine, erected at Klondike last winter, is designed for ease of transport, capability to assemble using smaller cranes than other turbine its size, superior performance and resistance to storm winds and lightning strikes.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:- Interview opportunities with top energy industry executives and community leaders
- Weather permitting, opportunities for live remotes at the site near the wind turbines
- B-roll of the Klondike Wind Power Projects and the next-generation wind turbine technology from Mitsubishi
- Print-quality still images of wind technicians at work and turbines in the wheat fields
DIRECTIONS TO KLONDIKE OPERATIONS CENTER:
From downtown Portland, Oregon (approx. 2.5 hours travel time)
- Take interstate I-84 to Biggs Junction (Exit 104)
- Go south on Highway 97 for 10 miles to the second Wasco exit
- Turn left on Highway 206 going east toward Wasco
- Proceed straight toward the airport on Armsworthy Street/Hilderbrand Lane for 4 miles
- Turn right at the t-stop onto N. Klondike Road
- Go south for half a mile
- Turn left onto Klondike Lane
The operations center and event site will be on your right. Please park in the gated lot located 1.5 miles beyond the Klondike Operations Center on the right side of Klondike Lane. Buses will shuttle you to the Operations Center.
TV news van parking available outside the Operations Center.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Jan Johnson, Iberdrola Renewables, (503) 796-7070, jan.johnson@IberdrolaREN.com
Julie Yamamoto, CMD Agency, (503) 223-6794, jyamamoto@cmdagency.com
Stefanie Stockton, CMD Agency, (503) 223-6794, sstockton@cmdagency.com
###