Altamont Pass wind farm

Altamont Pass wind farm
Turbines near Livermore, California in 2009
Map
Country
  • United States
LocationAltamont Pass, Alameda County, California
Coordinates37°43′57″N 121°39′9″W / 37.73250°N 121.65250°W / 37.73250; -121.65250
StatusOperational
Commission date1981
Wind farm
Type
Power generation
Units operational4930
Nameplate capacity576 MW
Annual net output1.1 TWh
External links
CommonsRelated media on Commons
Wind turbines dot the landscape as Interstate 580 winds through Altamont Pass
Older wind turbines in 2003

The Altamont Pass wind farm is located in the Altamont Pass of the Diablo Range in Northern California. It is one of the earliest wind farms in the United States. The first wind turbines were placed on the Altamont in the early 1980s by Fayette Manufacturing Corporation, on land owned by cattle rancher Joe Jess.[1] The wind farm is composed of 4,930[2] relatively small wind turbines of various types, making it at one time the largest wind farm in the world in terms of capacity.

Altamont Pass is still one of the largest concentration of wind turbines in the world, with a capacity of 576 megawatts (MW), producing about 125 MW on average and 1.1 terawatt-hours (TWh) yearly.[3] They were installed after the 1970s energy crisis in response to favorable tax policies for investors.[citation needed]

  1. ^ "Lodi News-Sentinel – Google News Archive Search".
  2. ^ "California Wind Energy Association: Fast Facts about California Wind Energy". www.calwea.org. Archived from the original on 2012-02-03. Retrieved 2011-02-23.
  3. ^ "Altamont Pass, California – Encyclopedia of Earth". www.eoearth.org. Archived from the original on 19 May 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-02.