Vestas Wind Systems secures order to supply California wind project

WINDSOR — Vestas Wind Systems has announced that it has secured a contract to build an 86-megawatt wind project in northern California.

Mulqueeney Wind LLC, a subsidiary of Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners, has ordered 19 wind turbines to be placed and help repower an existing wind farm spanning almost 4,600 acres in Alameda County. The company will install the latest 4.5-megawatt, V-163 turbines, which are Vestas’ largest on-shore turbines, with a 10-year service agreement.

The project brings Vestas’ U.S. orders so far this year to almost 2.7 gigawatts.

The company applied in December 2019 for a Conditional Use Permit to repower existing wind energy turbine sites with up to 36 new turbines. After a lengthy tussle with the Audubon Society, which was concerned about turbines killing raptors and bats, the East County Board of Zoning Adjustments agreed to allow 19 turbines with the addition of a special camera system called IdentiFlight placed on 29 parcels in the existing farm. IdentifFlight is an AI-driven camera system that is said to identify endangered species from up to 1.3 kilometers away, automatically shutting down the turbine blades as long as the birds and raptors are in the cameras’ field of vision.

The project is within the southeastern quadrant of the Alameda County portion of the Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area in northern California.

The Windsor blade-manufacturing plant and the Brighton nacelle-manufacturing plant are the only U.S. manufacturing facilities for Vestas. The project is expected to be delivered by the fourth quarter of 2025 and commissioned by late 2026, according to a Vestas release.

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