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GIS Support to Chokecherry/ Sierra Madre Wind Energy Project Carbon County, Wyoming Client Power Company of Wyoming, LLC Completion date 2012 Services provided • Data collection • Mapping • GIS analysis • Preliminary engineering • Environmental assessment • Data management Technologies • ArcGIS • AutoCAD • Spatial analysis The Power Company of Wyoming, LLC’s (PWC) Chokecherry and Sierra Madre Wind Energy project is a proposed 1,000-turbine wind farm to be located south of Rawlins in Carbon County, Wyoming. The proposed project will have two sites—Chokecherry, with 675 turbines, and Sierra Madre with 325 turbines—situated on about 98,500 acres. The project area consists of a checkerboard land pattern with approximately half being publicly owned (Bureau of Land Man- agement) and half being private- or state-owned. In addition to the wind turbines, the proposed project requires the construction of ancillary facili- ties, including step-up transformers, underground electric collection and communication lines, roads, transmission line, substations, and staging areas. With the potential to generate 2,000-3,000 mega- watts of clean energy (enough for approximately 600,000 homes), the project will ensure a reli- able, cost-effective supply of renewable electricity that is unmatched in the west. This output will help America reduce greenhouse gas emissions, diversify energy sources, and meet growing demand for renewable energy sources. At the same time, the project will generate jobs, millions of dollars in tax revenue, and other economic benefits for Carbon County. Atkins is providing design and engineering consulting services on this large planning and development project with numerous, complex environmental, scientific, regulatory, permit- ting, and design challenges. In this role, Atkins has used GIS technology from the start of the planning process for almost every aspect of the project including: • Development of the client land base to define and manage property and project boundaries, as well as to address and resolve land ownership and jurisdiction issues • Acquisition and analysis of resource data to implement avoidance and mitigation strategies during preliminary conceptual design in order to reduce potential conflicts and impacts • Acquisition of digital elevation models and terrain analysis for project planning, facilitation of preliminary conceptual design, and adherence to FAA lighting requirements • Data sharing with other consultants/ subconsultants, cooperating agencies, the client, and internally • Data management and organization, change tracking, version control, and as a central clearinghouse for spatial and tabular data pertaining to almost all aspects of the project • Impact calculations to estimate potential disturbance from proposed designs and to guide successive, iterative rounds of preliminary design to maximize efficiency. The extensive, ongoing use of GIS on the Choke- cherry and Sierra Madre Wind Energy project has been an outstanding example of cross-service line collaboration between Atkins’ environmental science and applied technologies groups, result- ing in excellent teamwork, high levels of effi- ciency, and value-added solutions meeting client needs on a demanding and dynamic project. Applied Technologies 100016237:JBbb:0511
