AES selected Mortenson as the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contractor to modernize the Mountain View I & II Wind Project located outside Palm Springs in Whitewater, California, to support the company’s growth along the West region of the United States.  

The scope of work for the 66.7-megawatt (MW) Mountain View I & II Wind Project included access roads, foundations, underground collection, overhead collection, substation, MET towers, and erection of 13 Vestas V117-4.3 MW and three V117-3.6 MW turbines. As a full repower project, all towers and foundations were removed entirely and replaced by new construction.  

Along with clean energy, this project benefited the area by employing 100 craft team members at the peak of construction. 

Our team faced challenges such as high temperatures, dust control, and the fulfillment of California permitting requirements. Recommissioning existing turbines on-site while concurrently delivering civil and foundation work was also challenging. Our team thoroughly planned for these complexities by assembling an experienced team, including individuals from a project in the area that had just been completed, who had successfully navigated similar challenges, bringing lessons learned and key insights to this project and reducing the risk to any delays for AES.  By doing so, we ensured schedule certainty by creating a unique offload plan for tight LODs during turbine offloading.  

Like with many wind projects, the site and project parameters also posed several challenges our team solved early in the project to ensure success during construction. With our design phase experts engaged early, we developed a robust plan to overcome these challenges, including working in elevated temperatures and California permitting requirements. These collective efforts resulted in this project's successful and safe delivery on time and on budget for AES.