17   135 MW Renaissance Wind Farm, Montana

The proposed 135 MW Renaissance wind farm will be located on farm land in McCone County, Montana. We are currently working on advanced project engineering and site development activities. A photo of the project site is shown here.

The Renaissance wind farm would provide the average energy supply for about 103,000 homes in Montana.

Climate & Environmental Benefits. The renewable energy produced by wind power is clean and non-polluting (i.e., no air pollution). As compared with the energy produced by a coal-fired power plant, the environmental attributes and air pollution/emissions SAVINGS benefits of this 135 MW wind farm are estimated as follows: 

●  reduces equivalent coal consumption and mining of 63,000 tons per year

●  equivalent reduced natural gas consumption of 1,560,000,000 cubic feet per year

●  reduces dependence on imported oil, saving the consumption of 275,000 barrels per year

●  reduced water pollution/consumption of 229,000,000 gallons per year

●  equivalent avoided emissions/air pollution of 1,007,000,000 lbs of CO₂ per year, which reduces the impacts of global warming and climate change

●  equivalent to planting about 36,000,000 trees (or a 166,000 acre forest), because trees naturally absorb CO₂

The toxic air pollution SAVED (or prevented) during the Renaissance wind project’s life of 20 years — over 20 billion pounds of NOx, SOx, PM and CO₂ — would cover the entire city of Billings, Montana (42 square miles) about 423 feet deep! Wow! 

Ahhh, breathe the clean, natural air from the Renaissance wind farm… 

Economic Benefits. Wind power is a renewable energy resource that would lessen the region's dependence on fossil fuels. The “fuel” for this energy resource — the wind — is natural, abundant, and free/renewable, which would reduce the impact of fossil fuel price volatility on local utilities and their customers.

This Project would be a boost to Montana's economy through local construction jobs and expenditures on materials, tools, supplies, and equipment purchases, as well as through the creation of long-term employment. The local economic benefits (direct and indirect) from this wind project over 20 years is estimated to be roughly $290 million, including property taxes, payroll from high-skilled jobs, land owner/farmer land leases, sales taxes, business taxes, various services purchased from local retailers, etc. (both during initial construction, plus continuing services for operation and maintenance). 

Social and Health Savings.  The hidden economic burdens placed on society from toxic air pollution (such as, NOx, SOx, Particulate Matter and CO₂) created by coal and gas-fired power generation is huge — such pollution causes premature deaths, heart attacks, lung cancer deaths, asthma attacks, hospital admissions, and lost work/sick days.  The costs to “medicate” and “repair” our society, based upon the various air pollution values mentioned above over 20 years, is roughly estimated at $560 million, which comprises health care and disease costs, plus damage to crops, livestock, property, climate, etc., as well as, impacts to public services. Therefore, the clean, renewable power from this wind farm would save our society roughly $560 million over 20 years in health and societal costs.

Avian & Wildlife Benefits. Not only does the use of clean, natural wind power save human lives, it also saves the lives of birds and other wildlife.  Birds are far more sensitive to air pollution than humans due to the thinness of the bird's lung's air-sac gas-exchange tissue, roughly half of the thickness of mammals, plus the large amounts of oxygen required for flight.  Therefore, birds are far more sensitive to airborne particulates and pollution.  Birds absorb almost twice as much air pollution in their respiratory system as humans.  In addition, fossil-fired power plants cause significant bird fatalities not only from air pollution, but from mining, destruction of forests, acid rain which causes acidification of soil and lakes/rivers, ingesting toxic mercury, collisions with power plant smokestacks and structures, climate change which wreaks havoc on migration routes and degrades habitats, etc.

In a study completed by Ben Sovacool, in March 2009, "Contextualizing Avian Mortality:  a preliminary appraisal of bird and bat fatalities from wind, fossil-fuel, and nuclear electricity," he offered a methodology to approximate the number of birds killed per kilowatt-hour ("kWh") generated with the following results:  fossil-fired facilities are about 17 times more dangerous to birds on a kWh basis than wind.  However, some birds also collide to a lesser extent with wind turbines.  Therefore, based upon Sovacool's methodology, this Project would save an estimated net 46,000 birds over 20 years by displacing fossil-fired power and its toxic pollution.


For more information about the climate, environmental, health, and economic benefits of wind power, please visit our Health and Climate Benefits of Wind Power page.

All values contained herein are preliminary and approximate. 

Nov 2009.  Please check back for updates in the future.