NorCal Wind Turbines Getting Slowly Upgraded

Wind Turbine technology has advanced, but due to costs and California's regulatory environment, the more efficient clean energy is slow to come to the Golden State:

Using technology imported from Denmark, a new wind farm in the Altamont Pass could generate more electricity at a lower price than its predecessors while killing fewer birds of prey.

But because of regulatory and economic hurdles, wind-farm operators aren't rushing to modernize all 5,200 aging wind turbines in the hills between Livermore and Tracy.

Obstacles to "repowering" — replacing wind turbines installed in the 1980s with more modern machines — include concerns about bird deaths. To claim lucrative federal tax credits, companies seeking to modernize their wind farms also must negotiate new agreements to sell their power to Pacific Gas & Electric Co.

The first wind-farm operator to move forward with a repowering project in the Altamont Pass is Altamont Power LLC, a partnership between Florida-based FPL Energy and Global Renewable Energy Partners. GREP is a subsidiary of wind-turbine manufacturer Vestas Wind Systems of Denmark.