WIND, RADAR AND SOLUTIONS

Fears of Radar Interference Threaten Oregon Wind Farm, but Solutions Exist; Software and Hardware Upgrades Can Eliminate the Problems
Dave Levitan, April 19, 2010 (SolveClimate)

"…In a rehashing of a continuing concern, the Pentagon and the Federal Aviation Administration are threatening to block the construction of what would be the country’s largest wind farm because of a potential for the turbines to interfere with nearby radar systems’ ability to track airplanes.

"Caithness Energy is ready to start construction on the Shepherds Flat wind farm along the Columbia River Gorge in northeastern Oregon; it would have a capacity of up 909 megawatts. In spite of the project having been in development for several years, objections have been raised only now regarding a radar system used by the Air Force in Fossil, Ore., about 70 miles from the wind farm site…"

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"…Radar systems are designed to distinguish between things that move and things that don’t…[An] airplane might disappear in the “clutter” created by the turbines’ radar signature…The conflict between wind turbines and radar is not a new one. The Sierra Club filed a lawsuit in 2006 arguing that the holds on wind farms due to military radar concerns were in effect halting the entire industry…American Wind Energy Association data [indicates] that more than 9,000 MW of wind power have been held up, deferred or abandoned due to radar issues…[W]ind turbines can in fact interfere with radar’s ability to see planes…[But there is a question of] whether small gaps in a radar’s vision are really all that important…[and if] the military needs no gaps at all in its radar systems, solutions to the problem are plentiful.

"First, newer radar systems, such as the Lockheed Martin TPS-77 recently purchased by the wind-friendly British government, have the ability to see through the turbine clutter…[M]uch cheaper fixes also are available…There are software upgrades using what are known as clutter erasure algorithms that could help the older systems see through the turbines…Also, short range radar systems placed inside or directly adjacent to the wind farm could work in tandem with the long range system and fill in the gaps…"

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"The Shepherds Flat wind farm is the only one in the windy Columbia River Gorge area that has been asked to halt construction as of yet, but other developers are worried…[T]hree {Iberdrola] projects totaling 400 MW in the eastern Columbia River Gorge…are currently awaiting final approval from the FAA…[I]n the past when radar concerns have been raised in other areas of the country, [Iberdrola] has received some help from members of Congress who were hopeful that the wind projects could bring jobs to the area…

"…In the case of the Shepherd’s Flat project by Caithness Energy…Oregon’s two senators, Democrats Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, placed holds on three defense department nominees as a negotiating tactic for speeding the resolution of the radar concerns. Caithness has said that any significant delay would scuttle the project completely, as federal stimulus funds will only go to the project if it is completed by the end of 2012…[but] it is unlikely that this issue will go away any time soon."