Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/1019591
44 WINES&VINES September 2018 WINEMAKING PRACTICAL WINERY & VINEYARD W ind is not just something that you can feel against your skin, hear when it howls, or see the effects of its devastation. Wind also is one of the fastest- growing sources of electricity in the world. In the United States, wind energy ranks fourth in electricity produc- tion, behind natural gas, coal and nuclear energy, according to the California Energy Commission (CEC). In California, wind plays a crucial role in the state's elec- tricity portfolio and Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS). According to the CEC, electric utilities are required to source 50% of retail sales from renewable sources by 2030. Further data from the CEC shows that commercial-scale wind projects generated a net 13,500 gigawatt-hours of electricity in 2016, about 6.81% of the state's gross system power; and wind energy accounted for 39% of California's renewable energy production for the RPS. While hundreds of homes and farms are using small tur- bines to produce electricity, others are going big time. Most impressive is a wind-turbine installation in California's Salinas Valley in Monterey County. In August 2017, a huge turbine was erected at Scheid Family Wines in Greenfield to improve overall efficiency by supplementing the electricity delivered through the Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) grid with an on-site, emission-free renewable energy source. Scheid has been farming wine grapes in Monterey County since 1972 and today has 4,000 acres of sustainably certified vineyards and a large state-of-the-art winery in Salinas Valley. The new wind turbine is a major element in Scheid's sustain- ability-practices program. Salinas Valley whirlybirds The Scheid wind turbine may very well be the first large-scale project in the U.S. to be installed on a winery property and was put in by Foundation Windpower LLC, a developer, owner and operator of utility-scale wind projects. This is the third Foundation installation in Salinas Valley, including a turbine at Taylor Farms, a food-processing plant in Gonzales, and another at the city of Soledad's wastewater-treatment plant. Foundation Windpower has 20 sites throughout California, with the oldest installed in 2010 in the city of Tracy, at the base of the Altamont Pass. Wind turbines require sites that 1) have a good wind regime to generate significant energy and 2) are in a non-residential area, according to Bob Lewis, founder of Foundation Windpower. "There has to be enough wind to run the turbines, which are state-of-the- art and are the same size as those used on wind farms." The Scheid turbine is a utility-scale 1.85-megawatt generator designed for high-wind environments. These massive structures are built to last 25 years but potentially can run 30 years or more. Winds in the Salinas Valley blow, on average, 13.5 miles per hour, making conditions favorable to wind-energy genera- tion, particularly during the summer afternoon hours of noon-6 p.m. (Monday through Friday). These hours are de- fined by PG&E as "peak electrical demand" hours and result Wind Turbine Electricity Generation Scheid Family Wines expands sustainability efforts with renewable resource By Cynthia Bournellis