Kulning Wind Energy Project

Other Agencies with Actions or Authorizations:

Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service

Department of the Army, US Army Corps of Engineers - Regulatory

Description:

UPDATES: 

On March 21, 2023, President Biden signed a proclamation establishing the Avi Kwa Ame National Monument. The national monument spans approximately 506,814 acres of lands managed by Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, and Bureau of Reclamation. The entirety of the proposed Kulning Wind Energy Project is within the boundary of the national monument.

On November 30, 2022, President Biden pledged at the White House Tribal Nations Summit to designate a Avi Kwa Ame National Monument.  The Kulning Wind Energy Project is wholly within the national monument boundary being proposed by tribes and advocates.  Designation of a Avi Kwa Ame National Monument has the potential to affect the Kulning Wind Energy Project.

On October 14, 2022, Crescent Peak Renewables submitted an updated plan of development.  The updated plan of development reduced the project area to 4,970 acres and pro, while the number of wind turbines proposed (68) and the total turbine heights (599' - 759') would remain the same as originally proposed.  

The updated plan of development also presented an alternative generation tie (transmission) line configuration (double circuit 69kV) and alignment.  The 12-mile alternative alignment would traverse east adjacent to Walking Box Ranch to interconnect to the Searchlight Substation.

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The Kulning Wind Energy Project (KWEP or Project) proposed by Crescent Peak Renewables (CPR or Applicant) is located on federal lands administered by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in Clark County, Nevada.

KWEP is a proposed 308-MW wind energy generation plant consisting of up to 68 wind turbine generators (WTGs), a project substation including switchgear and battery energy storage (BESS) equipment, accompanying ancillary infrastructure, and a 29-mile transmission line to Sloan Canyon Switching Station. The combined area under application is 9,264 acres, but the project will only require temporary and permanent disturbance totaling up to 700 acres or 7.6 percent of the application area.

The plant will generate electricity using state of the art WTGs that use algorithms to enhance grid reliability, in addition to augmenting grid stability by offsetting the daytime profile of solar generation with wind generation at night and BESS. The energy from the WTGs would be gathered by an internal electrical collection system at a voltage of 34.5 kV that would be stepped up to 230 kV at a one of the two onsite project substations. The energy would then be transmitted to the grid via a new 230 kV transmission line. CPR intends to construct, operate, and decommission two major types of facilities described in detail below: 1) wind turbines with associated work/crane pads facilities and 2) linear facilities.

1) The wind turbine facilities would be located within an approximately 9,154-acre project area.
These facilities would include:

• The wind turbines and their supporting foundations;
• The crane and work pads surrounding each wind turbine;
• Substations and related switchgear, power conditioning and centrally housed BESS facilities; and
• An on-site O&M facility.

2) Project linear facilities would include:

• Main and secondary access roads;
• A 29-mile 230kV gen-tie line to carry electricity to the proposed point of interconnection (up
• to 110 acres of total disturbance);
• Collection power lines for wind turbines, buildings and backup for control systems; and
• Communications cables or lines.

NOTE: All Actions and Milestones scheduled after the "Agency Application Evaluation Determination" are subject to a favorable determination by the Agency to continue processing the application.