Abstract
Klondike III Wind Project (Project), located in Sherman County, Oregon is a wind-powered electric generating plant with an average electric generating capacity of approximately 125 megawatts (MW) and a peak generating capacity of not more than 375 MW (OEFSC, 2007). It was developed and is operated by Klondike Wind Power III LLC (Iberdrola Renewables, originally PPM Energy) of Portland, Oregon. There are two phases, referred to simply as Klondike III (Phase 1) and Klondike IIIa (Phase 2), both permitted by the State of Oregon through the Energy Facility Siting Council (EFSC) process. Klondike Wind Power III LLC received a Site Certificate from the EFSC through the Oregon Department of Energy on June 30, 2006 and a Site Certificate for Klondike IIIa (KIIIa) on November 16, 2007. Klondike III Phase 1 was commissioned and fully operational in October, 2007 and consists of 122 turbines. Of these 122 turbines, 80 are 1.5 MW GE turbines and 42 are Siemens 2.3 MW turbines. Phase 2 consists of 51, 1.5 MW turbines and was commissioned and fully operational June 21, 2008. The MW listed is a nameplate capacity and does not reflect actual production. Wildlife monitoring is required for each phase. KIIIa (Phase 2) is the subject of this annual wildlife monitoring report. The Klondike III Phase 1 annual wildlife monitoring report for the period October 2007–October 2008 was submitted to Iberdrola Renewables in April 2009 (Gritski et al., 2009).
This first annual report summarizes methods and results of the first year of the two-year avian and bat monitoring study for the Klondike IIIa Wind Project since the Project started operations in late June 2008. It includes:
- Wildlife fatality monitoring including reporting of all casualties (carcasses, feather spots, body parts) found, results of Carcass Removal and Searcher Efficiency Trials, and estimated fatalities per MW in the eight categories (7 avian, 1 bat) as described in the Wildlife Monitoring and Mitigation Plan (WMMP, page A-5) filed under the EFSC site certificate (OEFSC, 2007).
- Raptor nest surveys in 2008
- Avian use surveys
Wildlife fatality monitoring results include all casualties found at the Project from August 11, 2008 through August 15, 2009 including all incidental finds, casualties found during the initial ―clean-up search‖ conducted August 11, 2008, and casualties found during the first four seasons of formal monitoring conducted from fall season 2008 through summer season 2009. Previously unidentified or unconfirmed specimens were examined after the end of the first year of monitoring to determine species where possible. Wildlife fatality estimates included in this report were summarized from data collected during the first year of a twoyear monitoring study and, therefore, are considered preliminary.