November 16, 2007—The US Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced that Sacramento (CA) Municipal Utility District (SMUD) is receiving the 2007 Wind Power Pioneer Award. The municipal utility was cited for leadership, demonstrated success, innovation, and long history with wind power technologies.
SMUD was one of 14 public power utilities from across the US that were nominated for the award this year. The DOE Wind Powering America program presented the award at the American Public Power Association’s 2007 Customer Connections Conference in Seattle, WA, on October 30. The City of Palo Alto, CA, an award finalist, was also recognized at that time.
SMUD has developed wind power since 1993 when the municipal utility launched the 5-MW Solano wind project. Gathering data from the first turbines, SMUD replaced older units and added more powerful ones, like the Vestas V-90 3-MW model, as they became available. The project now generates 39 MW, with an additional 63 MW planned for 2008, putting SMUD on track to achieve its ambitious goal of a 20-percent renewable energy portfolio by 2011.
To protect its investment in state-of-the-art turbines, SMUD worked with Vestas to develop the first five-year, full-service operation and maintenance agreement in the US, guaranteed by the manufacturer. To further mitigate the risk, SMUD split the Phase 2 project development contract, installing 24 MW in 2006 and scheduling 63 MW for 2008.
