3.1 GW of short turbines could be added to the San Gorgonio Pass Wind Resource Area

California, Density, H-Type, Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines, North America, Riverside County, San Gorgonio Pass Wind Resource Area, Synergy with Tall and Short Turbines, Vertical Axis Wind Turbines, Wind Farms
Publication: Wind Harvest International
Year Published: 2023
Resource

Wind Harvest analyzed the San Gorgonio Pass Wind Resource Area using publicly available location information and UL’s Windnavigator. We found that the area could add 3,136 MWs of Wind Harvester type turbines to the existing 682 MWs of propeller-type turbines currently installed. Based on the mid-level wind speeds in the zone, this level of buildout would produce 10,040 GWh of electricity per year. The existing wind farms produce 2,661 GWh of electricity per year.

California Mid-Level Wind Resources in Wind Farms

Alameda/Contra Costa Counties, Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area, California, Country-by-Country Resources, East San Diego County Wind Resource Area, Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines, Kern County, Mendocino/Lake Counties, North America, Riverside County, San Bernardino County, San Diego County, San Gorgonio Pass Wind Resource Area, Shasta County, Solano County, Solano Wind Resource Area, Tehachapi Wind Resource Area, Vertical Axis Wind Turbines, Wind Farms
Summary of onshore wind farms
Existing GWs of HAWT wind farms in state 6.4
GWs of HAWTs over 6.5m/s at 20m agl (projected) 5.5
% of wind farms over 6.5m/s at 20m agl 86%

HAWT: Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine

This data came from thewindpower.net and UL’s Windnavigator.
Publication: Wind Harvest International

Copyright: Creative Commons BY-SA

Wind Farm Summary & Details
Wind Map

California Wind Resource Areas: Mid-Level Wind Potential

Alameda/Contra Costa Counties, Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area, California, Country-by-Country Resources, Density, East San Diego County Wind Resource Area, H-Type, Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines, Kern County, North America, Riverside County, San Diego County, San Gorgonio Pass Wind Resource Area, Solano County, Solano Wind Resource Area, Synergy with Tall and Short Turbines, Tehachapi Wind Resource Area, Vertical Axis Wind Turbines, Wind Farms
All of California’s wind farms–6000+ megawatts producing 15,200 gigawatt-hours (GWh) annually as of 2021–are on land already zoned for wind energy production. Wind Harvest estimates that, if fully built out on existing wind farms in the Wind Resource Areas, H-type vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs) could add 10 GW of capacity and about 31,500 GWh of energy per year to California’s grid, fulfilling about 23% of the state carbon neutrality goal. Alternatively, if these VAWTs were added to the Wind Resource Areas both around as well as within existing wind farms, California could add ~15 GW and 45,000 GWh of energy to the grid, or about 33% of what the state needs to reach carbon neutrality.
California Wind Resource Potential Report
Summary of onshore wind farms and H-type turbine potential
GWs of existing (HAWT) wind farms in California Wind Resource Areas (CA WRAs) 6
GWs of VAWTs that could be added outside of existing wind farms in CA WRAs 5
GWs of VAWTs that could be added to existing wind farms in CA WRAs 10
This data came from thewindpower.net and UL’s Windnavigator.
Publication: Wind Harvest International

New Study Shows Groundbreaking Mid-Level Wind Turbines Can Almost Quadruple Wind Energy Output in the San Gorgonio Pass

California, Density, North America, Riverside County, San Gorgonio Pass Wind Resource Area, Synergy with Tall and Short Turbines, Vertical Axis Wind Turbines, Wind Farms
Publication: The Next Generation
Year Published: 2023
Resource

A new study by Wind Harvest, a company that is building a novel type of short, utility-scale turbine, has found that mid-level wind turbines could almost quadruple the energy output in the notoriously windy San Gorgonio Pass Wind Resource Area. These turbines would provide enough energy to power 1 million California homes each year.

Find the complete press release in the resource link above.

PATENT – Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Blade-Arm Connection Member

California, Density, North America, Riverside County, San Gorgonio Pass Wind Resource Area, Synergy with Tall and Short Turbines, Vertical Axis Wind Turbines, Wind Farms
Publication: The Next Generation
Year Published: 2023
Patent
Additional Resource

Wind Harvest engineers (David John Malcom, Alan Ionut Munteanu, Olaaamide Ajala Inyand, Antonio owed Monge, Jeffrey Willis) are the inventors of a patented technology connecting the blades and arms of Vertical Axis Wind Turbines.

Find more information about the patent at the link above.

Sensitivity of Southern California Wind Energy to Turbine Characteristics

California, Density, East San Diego County Wind Resource Area, Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines, Kern County, North America, Riverside County, San Diego County, San Gorgonio Pass Wind Resource Area, Tehachapi Wind Resource Area, Turbulence, Wake, Wind Farms
Author: Scott B. Capps, Alex Hall and Mimi Hughes
Publication: Wind Energy, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Year Published: 2011
Resource

Capps, Hall and Hughes evaluate how variation in wind turbine characteristics such as rotor diameter, rater power and hub height affect wind energy production in Southern California.

Wind Energy Landscapes: Society and Technology in the California Desert

Bats, California, Environmental Impacts, North America, Riverside County, San Gorgonio Pass Wind Resource Area, Visual, Wildlife, Wind Farms
Author: MARTIN J. PASQUALETTI
Publication: Society and Natural Resources, Taylor & Francis
Year Published: 2001
Resource

Abstract:

There may be no more conspicuous example of a conflict between society and technology than a wind energy landscape. The fastest growing renewable energy resource in the world, wind energy has evoked a cool public response. Through the use of interviews, the published literature, governing legislation, and personal experience, this article examines this conflict near Palm Springs, California. Its purpose is to summarize and explain the opposition that developed there from the earliest days, what has been done to mitigate it, and how the local experience is reflected in similar developments elsewhere. This particular conflict between society and technology has the potential, with proper guidance, controls, and sensitivity, to diminish with time.

Windstar 530G Prototype

North America, Prototypes, Riverside County, San Gorgonio Pass Wind Resource Area, Vertical Axis Wind Turbines, Wind Harvesters
Author: Kevin Wolf
Publication: Wind Harvest International
Year Published: 2001
Resource

The Windstar 530G was a three turbine array designed to test the coupled vortex effect, a phenomenon first hypothesized by Wind Harvest founder Bob Thomas in the early 1990’s. The array was placed in one of the highly energetic wind farms of San Gorgonio Pass Wind Resource Area in California.