Frequently Asked Questions

Repsol Renewables is wholly owned by Repsol, a global multi-energy company that leads the energy transition and has set itself the goal of being zero net emissions by 2050.

With a portfolio of over 20,000 MW of wind, solar, and storage projects under development across the United States, Repsol Renewables North America’s experienced team has a track record of successfully identifying, developing, and building renewable energy projects. Our project successes are built on a foundation of rigorous screening and site selection, collaborative engagement with landowners and host communities, and disciplined execution through development, construction and operations.

When the wind blows past a wind turbine, its blades capture the wind’s energy and rotate, turning the wind’s kinetic energy into mechanical energy. Inside the wind turbine, this rotation turns an internal shaft connected to a gearbox, which then spins a generator that produces electricity. The wind turbine will rotate to face the strongest wind and will angle its blades to best capture the wind energy.¹

Laramie Range Wind is a 650 MW wind energy project located west of Interstate 25 (I-25) and approximately 20 miles north of the City of Cheyenne. The Project will interconnect to the existing transmission system of the Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association.

Project components include turbines and related equipment, two substations, a switchyard, an operations and maintenance building, access roads, overhead and underground collection systems, a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition system, meteorological towers, and an onsite overhead 345-kV generation tie line.

The Laramie Range Wind Project will provide numerous benefits to Laramie County. Laramie Range Wind represents a total capital investment of up to $1.1 billion in Laramie County, which will result in a significant increase in the County’s taxable property base. The Project will benefit the County by generating approximately $196 million in new property tax revenues while also creating jobs and increase demand for local businesses.

During construction, the Laramie Range Wind Project will contribute more than $59 million in sales tax revenue to Laramie County while supporting up to 300 family-wage construction jobs during peak construction. These construction workers will drive local economic development through increased demand for supply chain businesses, hospitality services, equipment rentals, and other local businesses. Once operational, the Project will generate up to 23 permanent jobs, which provide well-paying opportunities for families to work and remain in the communities surrounding the Project.

The cost of wind has declined by 47% over the last decade, with improved technology and US-based manufacturing making it competitive with other energy sources and the cheapest source of new electricity in many parts of the country.

According to Lazard’s Levelized Cost of Energy Analysis – Version 17.0 (2024), even without tax credits, new wind resources have a levelized cost of energy in the range of 2.7 cents/kWh – 7.3 cents/kWh.² Wind projects generate electricity at a lower cost per megawatt hour than would other possible fossil fuel and renewable energy options.³ These results have been bolstered by the International Energy Agency’s World Energy Outlook 2023 which found, “Solar PV and wind are now the cheapest new sources of electricity in most markets.”⁴

Adding to their growing appeal, wind projects are uniquely able to sell their electricity output at a fixed price over the life of the project because the “fuel”, the wind, is free and not subject to increases in commodity fuel prices.⁵

Wind energy is the largest source of renewable electricity generation in the US, providing over 10% of the country’s electricity and growing.⁶ While wind is variable as a power resource, that does not mean that wind projects are backed up with a coal or gas plant should the wind stop blowing. The variability of wind can be predictably forecast and used to complement other generation sources. No electricity source runs 100 percent of the time, including coal, gas, and nuclear plants. Grid operators have decades of experience managing changes in supply and demand, and sudden, unexpected outages at large conventional power plants are more costly and difficult to manage than the gradual, predictable changes in wind output.⁷

Yes. A typical wind energy project using 2 MW wind turbines repays its carbon footprint in six months or less, providing decades of zero emissions energy that displaces the fossil fuel energy that was used to manufacture the turbines and construct the wind project.⁸ As wind turbine technology continues to improve with longer lifetimes and larger nameplate capacities, the length of the energy payback period will continue to decrease. The wind turbines we anticipate using for the project are 4.5 MW, more than double the capacity of the turbines for which the cited lifecycle assessment was performed.

The Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory reviewed all published research and concluded that wind energy’s carbon footprint is lower than nuclear and most other renewable energy resources.⁹

Millions of people around the world live and work close to operating wind turbines without any health or safety effects.¹⁰

According to a 2018 study by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory,¹¹ there are more than 1.3 million homes located within five miles of a utility-scale wind turbine. The study also found that 92 percent of survey respondents living within five miles of a wind turbine reported positive or neutral experiences and that 90 percent of survey respondents would prefer to live near a wind farm over any type of centralized power plant, whether coal, natural gas or nuclear.

No. Over 20 years of research into the impact of wind turbines on human health indicates that wind turbines, when constructed properly, do not pose a risk to people’s health.¹²

• The Ohio Department of Public Health released a review and summary of available scientific literature regarding wind turbines and public health between 2004 and 2018. It concluded that “there is no significant body of peer-reviewed, scientific evidence that clearly demonstrates a direct link between adverse physical health effects and exposure to noise, visual phenomena, or EMF associated with wind turbine projects.”¹³
• The Massachusetts Institute of Technology published a study in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine titled, “Wind Turbines and Health: A Critical Review of the Scientific Literature.” A panel of experts with professional experience and training in occupational and environmental medicine, acoustics, epidemiology, otolaryngology, psychology, and public health was commissioned to “assess the peer-reviewed literature regarding potential health effects among people living in the vicinity of wind turbines.” Upon review, they concluded, “No clear or consistent association is seen between noise from wind turbines and any reported disease or other indicator of harm to human health.” ¹⁴
• Health Canada, in partnership with Statistics Canada, conducted a major study of over one thousand homes and reached the same conclusion, stating, “No evidence was found to support a link between exposure to wind turbine noise and any of the self-reported illnesses.”¹⁵

Wind projects do not burn fossil fuel to generate electricity, and as a result, do not emit any air pollutants such as carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, or particulate matter. Wind helps avoid 336 million metric tons of CO2 emissions annually, which is the equivalent to removing 73 million cars from the road.¹⁶ It is estimated that by reducing harmful emissions that contribute to chronic illness and premature death, wind projects reduce public health costs by billions of dollars a year.¹⁷

Today’s wind turbines take advantage of over 30 years of design, engineering, manufacturing, and operating experience to minimize sound from operations. Further, our projects will be designed to comply with state and local laws to limit sound impacts. Typically, two people can carry on a conversation at normal voice levels even while standing directly below a turbine. Millions of people around the world live and work near wind farms without issue.

Wind energy projects, like all forms of development, can result in interactions with the natural environment. Wildlife and natural resources are an important consideration in our selection of project sites.

Furthermore, the wind energy industry is closely regulated by state and federal agencies to ensure any effects on wildlife are avoided, minimized and mitigated as needed. Our dedicated environmental permitting team takes all necessary steps during the planning and siting stages to identify sensitive species such as bats and birds, high-risk locations, and mitigation efforts. We have been working collaboratively with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and state agencies such as the Wyoming Game and Fish Department to determine the best siting for wind turbines to avoid or minimize impacts on wildlife.

Climate change remains the largest threat to wildlife. Wind power is far less harmful to wildlife than the traditional energy sources it displaces and is one of the most effective, fastest, cheapest solutions to reduce carbon pollution and the climate change it contributes to.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Lab noted that wind turbines cause less than 0.01 percent of all human-related bird deaths.¹⁸

No. Cattle and other livestock are not affected by wind turbines, and ranchers have reported that cattle benefit from the shade turbines offer.¹⁹

Electric and magnetic fields (EMF) are present everywhere in our environment, including TV antennae, radio signals, Wi-Fi, and common household appliances.²⁰ EMF emissions from wind turbines are lower than those produced by common household electrical devices and are below any existing regulatory guidelines with respect to health.²¹

Several studies have assessed the correlation between proximity to high voltage direct current transmission lines and impacts on agricultural operations. According to an epidemiologic study of 500 herds of Holstein dairy cattle, herd health, measured using multiple indicators, did not differ between periods before and after a nearby +/- 400 kV direct current line was energized.²² Another study conducted by Oregon State University determined that no differences were found between cattle and crops raised under 500 kV direct current lines and those raised away from the lines.²³ These studied voltages are significantly greater than what will be used in the Laramie Range Wind Project.

No, wind turbines do not require water to produce electricity or cool power generating equipment, so the project will not have a negative impact on local water supplies. Most of the water needed for the project will be related to dust suppression control during construction, and it is anticipated that water will be purchased from a nearby water control district for that purpose. Furthermore, turbine foundations are only approximately 10-to-12 feet deep and do not impact the local water tables.

The Laramie Range Wind Project will minimize the potential effects on local roads by entering into a road maintenance agreement with Laramie County outlining the process of improving and repairing roads that will be used during construction and operations. Per the Laramie County regulations (LUR 2-2-125(c)(xiii)), Laramie Range Wind will:

(A) Submit a detail map of known haul routes with the wind energy permit application

(B) Complete a pre-construction baseline survey prepared by a mutually agreed upon professional engineer to determine existing road conditions

(C) Engage a third-party engineer to assess the potential for damage or impact to the roads detailed in the haul route. 

(D)  Finalize a mitigation plan and/or long-term road maintenance plan to address the impacts to the roads as determined in the assessment

(E) Obtain the third-party engineer’s estimate for the total estimated cost to improve, maintain or repair the existing roads as detailed in the mitigation/maintenance plan

(F) Put up financial assurance in the amount necessary to repair any damage to public roads as a result of project construction or operations

(G) Perform additional information, studies, or reports as reasonably determined by the Board as necessary 

As a long-term community partner, the Laramie Range Wind Project will leave the roads in the same or better condition as prior to construction.

No. Many studies have shown that wind projects do not have long-term negative impacts on the value of neighboring properties. Wind projects benefit all local property owners by driving economic investment and tax revenue. These funds improve roads, schools, and community services, while also keeping local taxes low – all which factor into property values.

According to the Energy Policy Institute, 10 major studies spanning three countries and 1.3 million property transactions over 18 years have found that wind projects do not decrease property values:

• The U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Lab collected data from more than 50,000 home sales among 27 counties in nine states. These homes were within 10 miles of 67 different wind facilities, and 1,198 sales were within one mile of a wind turbine. The data span the periods well before announcement of the wind facilities to well after their construction. The research found no statistical evidence that home values near turbines were affected in the post-construction or post-announcement/preconstruction periods.²⁴
• The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center studied the relationship between wind turbines and residential property values in Massachusetts to assess whether home values were affected by proximity to wind turbines. An analysis of more than 122,000 Massachusetts home sales between 1998 and 2012 found no statistically significant evidence that proximity to a wind turbine affects home values.²⁵
• Another study by the Centre for Economics and Business Research argues that wind turbines do not negatively affect property values, and, in some cases, may increase home prices.²⁶

Numerous other property value studies based on statistical analysis of real estate transactions have found that wind facilities have no consistent significant impact on property values (Sterzinger et al. 2003; Hoen et al. 2009; Hinman 2010; Carter 2011).

As with any structure, wind turbines can accumulate ice under certain atmospheric conditions. This possibility and the risk of ice throw is taken into account during both project planning and operation. The turbines used for our projects will be sited according to applicable regulations, which requires setback distances from roads and residences that adequately protect the public from the risk of ice throw.

In addition, modern wind turbines are designed with ice detection systems to minimize the potential for ice throw. If ice accumulates on the blades, the turbine will simply shut off and will remain at a standstill until the ice melts.

Only approximately 2% of a wind project area is occupied by project infrastructure, leaving the remaining 98% available for current land use. Landowners and tenants can continue to farm or ranch their properties right up to the base of the turbine while diversifying their revenue stream to better weather economic downturns and preserve family property for future generations.

Yes. Today 90% of a wind turbine is recyclable, and the industry has made great strides towards recycling options for the fiberglass blades as well, which will continue to increase the percentage of recyclable material.²⁷

The Project will be designed and constructed to have an expected minimum useful life of 35 years.

Repsol Renewables North America is responsible for the decommissioning and removal of project infrastructure at the end of each project’s life. Standard decommissioning practices include dismantling and repurposing, salvaging/recycling, or disposing of wind turbine components, and site restoration.

Additionally, Laramie County regulations (LUR 2-2-125(c)(xiv)) require a decommissioning and restoration plan be put in place, which outline the various ways in which we will safely and responsibly remove installed equipment and restore the property within the project area. In addition, financial securities are often required to ensure host communities will bear no responsibility for decommissioning or restoration.