Best Practices

ENERGY BEST PRACTICE

Wind Power

San Francisco, CA

Purpose

To promote the development of local wind power generation.

Outcomes

There are currently 13 wind turbines installed in the city, with 3 small residential turbines that require at least 10 mph or 4.4 meters per second. There are also 2 turbine installations on city property, one at the San Francisco Zoo and the other at the Randall Museum in Twin Peaks. There are 5 additional newly installed vertical axis turbines at the National Park Service’s Crissy Field Center and 4 building-integrated turbines at the SFPUC’s new headquarters. None of the turbines are currently being metered for production, although the Crissy Field and SFPUC turbines will be in the near future.

To track and better understand the City’s wind patterns, there are 6 anemometers located throughout SF. These wind monitoring stations provide wind distribution frequencies that show the number of hours per year at a specific wind speed as well as the average wind speed.

There are 3 wind case studies in SF:

• “Vertical Axis” Turbines in the Castro and Bernal Heights
  Installed by Blue Green Pacific, an SF based company, the current technology costs around $4,000-$5,000 per turbine. The installation is projected to create 200-500 kWh per year
• La Casa Verde home in the Mission
  In 2007 a horizontal-axis Skystream 3.7 turbine, designed by Southwest Windpower, was installed by Meridian Builders and Developers. This style of turbine is designed to generate electricity with winds as low as 8mph and produce 300 kWh per month. The house was awarded the LEED Certification for its green building achievements, which includes the wind turbine, a 5 kW solar array, planted living roof, rainwater catchment tanks, a grey water recycling system and recycled or sustainably grown wood throughout the house. Also during the remodel, 90% of all construction waste was recycled.
• SF Zoo Wind Turbine
  There is a sustainability exhibit at the SF Zoo, which features a vertical wind axis turbine, installed by Blue Green Pacific, and was fully operational in April 2010. Along with a small solar panel, the wind turbine powers the LED lights in the Earthquake Shack, which has been converted to an interpretive center.

Background & Summary

In July 2008, an Executive Directive was issued to generate City department awareness of the available use of wind power. To be implemented by the Department of Building Inspection and Planning Department, the Directive acknowledges the availability of wind power generation within City boundaries. In order to encourage the use of wind power, installation of residential, commercial, or municipal wind generation turbines will receive expedited permitting and discounted costs.

Also in 2008 Mayor Gavin Newsom established the Urban Wind Task Force. The task force comprised of 44 representatives from various backgrounds including the wind industry, environmentalists, business representatives and more. They met monthly for eight months, focusing on wind data, permitting, cost and incentives, public awareness and demonstrations, environmental impact and job creation. They concluded Urban Wind has the potential to provide:

• Homeowners and businesses with a clean, distributed energy option for managing their energy needs and savings while increasing their property values
• Examples of distributed generation at or near the point of use
• Integration into an existing transmission grid and built environment
• An opportunity to create new green jobs

Issues and Barriers:
When submitting permits for individual urban wind generation devices, applicants are facing a great deal of process and cost. While these issues are manageable for an individual, they impede the progression of a large-scale establishment of micro-wind devices.

According to the SF Energy Map, the average wind speed in San Francisco is 7 mph, while the necessary wind speed for small wind turbines is about 12 mph. In terms of available wind for power generation, not all areas in SF are suitable.

Fiscal Impacts

To apply for a small wind turbine permit in San Francisco, a resident must first submit an application to the San Francisco Department of Building Inspections (DBI). Wind permitting fees range from $1000-$5,000.

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Last updated February 14, 2013

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