Conservation and clean energy combine at Klondike Wind Farm
The Klondike Wind Farm
Located near the town of Wasco, in Central Oregon, is owned and operated by Iberdrola Renewables and encompasses four individual wind power projects. Together, these wind farms generate a total of 400 megawatts of wind energy—enough to power more than 115,000 homes. While the project spans thousands of acres of private land, the actual footprint is less than two percent of the total area. Landowners continue using the remainder of the land for wheat farming and ranching.
At Klondike, wildlife and habitat conservation is as important as leading the transformation to a competitive, clean energy future. Wind turbines share the land with deer, cattle, birds and other native species, so the company works thoughtfully to protect them and their habitat. Recently, Shawn Bertrand was awarded for his exemplary service, carrying out Iberdrola Renewables’ Avian and Bat Protection Policy (ABPP).
The ABPP is a wind industry-first initiative, which formalizes the company’s commitment to protecting wildlife and the environment at all of its sites. Under this initiative, wind farms are sited, designed, constructed, and operated in an environmentally sustainable manner to avoid or minimize environmental impacts because, while the impacts of wind energy on wildlife are small compared to fossil fuels production, high-rise construction and pesticides, every bird matters to Iberdrola and to Shawn.
Since 2008, Iberdrola Renewables has been refining and improving the ABPP and its processes; and in 2011, began presenting wildlife program awards to wind farms and individual field technicians who displayed exceptional performance by embracing the company’s environmental leadership.
As a field technician, Shawn’s primary role is operations and maintenance of the wind turbines. But as an avid outdoorsman, he takes pride in his work as an environmental coordinator—going above and beyond each day.
Shawn says, “I’m proud as an employee to be recognized for doing my job correctly and diligently, and as an outdoorsman it makes me pretty proud to be transparent and keep track of real world data with what’s going on at our plant. It’s good to see a company taking steps to ensure that the resources we have are available for future generations.”
Watch a video about the Klondike Wind Farm and Shawn’s award.
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