Little Mount Susitna Wind Farm

— Ben Boettger

Earlier this month, Cook Inletkeeper commented in support of leasing state land to a planned 271-megawatt windfarm on Little Mount Susitna, a windy plateau west of its big sister, Mount Susitna, commonly known as Sleeping Lady. Chugach Electric Association – which would buy power from the windfarm’s Fairbanks-based developer, Alaska Renewables – estimates it would save 3.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas annually.  

You can read the state’s preliminary decision on the land lease, and find details of the Little Su windfarm in its development plan, starting on page 27 of that document. Here are Inletkeeper’s comments on the land lease decision.

The Alaska Department of Natural Resources made the preliminary decision that a 40-year land lease for the wind farm is in the public interest. In light of our urgent need to decrease reliance on Cook Inlet natural gas and the world’s need to advance beyond carbon-emitting energy, we agree. More thorough environmental permitting lies ahead of the project, however, and our supportive comments emphasize the need for appropriate strictness. If the project is thoughtfully planned and executed, it can provide much-needed energy with acceptable impacts to wildlife and habitats. We’ll be making sure that future permitting sets these conditions. 

After construction, the wind farm’s main hazardous waste product will be lubricant oil — in addition to its emission-free operations, it will provide energy without creating the long-term pollution source or major spill risk of an oil and gas project. The project is permitting for a 40-year operational life, but there is every reason to believe that periodic equipment replacement can keep it running far longer. As for cleaning up when the project is eventually decommissioned, DNR is requiring the wind farm to post a performance bond — similar to what’s required of oil platforms.

During construction, access roads and powerlines will be built across two anadromous streams in the area, the Lewis and Theodore Rivers. The access roads can be consistent with intact and healthy salmon habitat if best management practices are implemented to ensure groundwater connectivity, proper drainage for flood flows, silt controls, fish-compatible culverts, adequate vegetative buffers, and if construction is timed outside salmon migration, and incubation periods. 

Of course, there’s an elephant in the room whenever we talk about wind, and this elephant has feathers. Worldwide, the potential of windfarms to displace birds living in or using nearby habitats is variable. A 2021 review of studies on the effects of wind farms on bird populations found that displacement was observed in 40.6% of the studies – while half the studies found no effect, and 7.7% found attraction effects. Research and monitoring will be needed to determine the effects of this specific wind farm on the specific populations of birds using the area, and future permitting should also make this a condition of approval. 

Precautionary measures such as painting a turbine blade black and reducing turbine speeds during sensitive times, as recommended by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, may be appropriate. Painting one turbine blade black to enhance visibility was shown to reduce bird fatalities by 70% at one wind farm in Norway.