Wind Energy Alaska LLC, announced May 9 in Anchorage, is still subject to execution of final project development documents. It would team Cook Inlet Region Inc., the largest private landowner in Southcentral Alaska, with enXco, a firm that develops, constructs, operates and manages wind energy projects throughout the United States.

EnXco Inc. is an EDF-EN company. EDF Energies Nouvelles, a 50-percent owned affiliate of the EDF Group, specializes in renewable power generation, with a primary focus on wind power. The firm has built up positions in the European Union, mainly in France, Portugal, Italy, the United Kingdom and Greece, plus the United States.

Spokesmen for CIRI said the first phase of the project could be online in 2009 and is expected to generate 30 to 50 megawatts of clean, renewable energy. While total cost would depend on the size of the project, estimates are that this phase will cost between $30 million and $70 million, officials said.

That energy would be sold to electric utilities on the Railbelt electric-energy grid. In the future, the Fire Island project could eventually generate 100 megawatts or more of power, and could provide enough power for 35,000 average-sized homes, CIRI officials said.

Studies are still under way on the possible effects the project could have on wildlife. CIRI officials said there are only two eagle nests on Fire Island, and neither is located near the project area. Meanwhile spring and fall migration studies, along with raptor surveys, have been completed and forwarded to government wildlife agencies, said Steve Gilbert, enXco Alaska projects manager.

“We have added quite a bit to the body of knowledge,” Gilbert said. “There was not much information on bird migrations in Upper Cook Inlet. There are more birds in spring than anyone thought passing over the island. They do pass pretty high. There is more work to do.”

Wind Energy Alaska is a 50-50 owned subsidiary of CIRI and enXco. Officials for both firms emphasized that the project is dependent upon long-term power purchase agreements with the Railbelt utilities, which will require public funds for the infrastructure needed to transport the electric power from the island to the Railbelt energy grid.

Wind power generation facilities typically cost $1.5 million to $2 million per megawatt to construct, which can initially be more expensive than traditional electric plants. Still, the wind plants have zero fuel costs and offer customers predictable, flat-priced electricity. As worldwide fossil fuel prices increase, wind power will become increasingly cost effective, CIRI officials said.

Fire Island was initially selected for the project by Chugach Electric Association from a list of 22 prospective sites that could potentially be developed to provide commercial quantities of electric power to key load centers on the Railbelt grid. After extensive investigation, Chugach determined that the site offered the best alternative for a wind farm, and approached CIRI in late 1999 about developing a project there.

CIRI, which owns some 3,200 acres on Fire Island, worked with Chugach and later with Municipal Light and Power, Golden Valley Electric Association and Homer Electric Association, to install wind measurement equipment on the island and pursue permits and other feasibility-related activities supported in part by the Denali Commission.

The companies determined that Fire Island has adequate wind resources and ample expansion acreage to support a major commercial wind facility. CIRI then agreed to continue working closely with the Railbelt utilities and has teamed with enXco to develop the wind project. Wind Energy Alaska may also consider developing additional, smaller wind projects in other areas of Alaska, CIRI officials said.