Siting Certificate Application Grant and Mineral Counties, West Virginia May 10, 2019 Submitted to the West Virginia Public Service Commission 201 Brooks Street Charleston, West Virginia 25323 by Black Rock Wind Force, LLC 100 California Street, Suite 400 San Francisco, California 94111 Building the future in wind in West Virginia… Table of Contents Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 1 Early Support for the Project .................................................................................................... 2 In-State Power Purchase Agreement ...................................................................................... 2 Section 1 – Project Summary and Generating Facility Overview .................................................. 3 Project Purpose ....................................................................................................................... 4 Reasons for Site Selection ....................................................................................................... 4 Description of Proposed Facility .............................................................................................. 5 Required Government Approvals and/or Permits .................................................................... 5 Court Litigation Involving the Project ....................................................................................... 6 Project Schedule ...................................................................................................................... 7 Section 2 – Justification of Need ....................................................................................................... 9 Need for the Black Rock Project .............................................................................................. 11 PJM Coal and Nuclear Retirements ............................................................................ 11 Corporate Demand for Renewables ........................................................................... 12 The Role of Exempt Wholesale Generators ............................................................................ 13 PJM Demand Forecasts........................................................................................................... 14 NERC Long-Term Reliability Assessment ............................................................................... 14 RFC Long-Term Resource Assessment .................................................................................. 15 An Energy-Independent West Virginia ..................................................................................... 15 Renewable Portfolio Standards ............................................................................................... 16 Section 3 – Description of Facility .................................................................................................... 17 Project Description ................................................................................................................... 19 Wind Turbine Generators ............................................................................................ 20 Access Roads ............................................................................................................. 20 Power Transmission.................................................................................................... 21 Operating Schedule .................................................................................................... 21 Potential Energy Produced ......................................................................................... 21 Total Land Area Requirement .................................................................................................. 21 Fuel Requirements ................................................................................................................... 21 Expected Air and Water Emissions .......................................................................................... 22 Water Requirement .................................................................................................................. 22 Other Major Equipment ............................................................................................................ 23 Operation Equipment .................................................................................................. 23 Construction Equipment .............................................................................................. 23 Safety Equipment ........................................................................................................ 24 Section 4 – Interconnection Studies ................................................................................................. 25 The Interconnection Request ................................................................................................... 27 i The PJM Planning Process ...................................................................................................... 27 Interconnection Request ............................................................................................. 28 Studies ........................................................................................................................ 28 Status of the Interconnection Process for Black Rock ............................................................. 29 Interconnection Request ............................................................................................. 29 Feasibility Study .......................................................................................................... 29 System Impact Study .................................................................................................. 29 Facilities Study ............................................................................................................ 29 Section 5 – Proposed Project Schedule and Impact of Delays ...................................................... 31 Proposed Project Schedule ..................................................................................................... 33 Development Phase .................................................................................................... 33 Construction Phase ..................................................................................................... 34 Pre-operations Commissioning Phase........................................................................ 34 Operation Phase ......................................................................................................... 34 Impact of Delays ...................................................................................................................... 35 Section 6 – Technical Data ................................................................................................................. 37 Site information ........................................................................................................................ 38 Landforms ................................................................................................................... 38 Water Resources ........................................................................................................ 39 Vegetation ................................................................................................................... 39 Land Use .................................................................................................................................. 39 Siting Criteria ............................................................................................................................ 40 Initial Siting Phase....................................................................................................... 40 Detailed Siting Phase .................................................................................................. 41 Relative Importance of Siting Criteria ...................................................................................... 41 Application of the Siting Criteria for the Black Rock Project .................................................... 42 Qualitative Factors ................................................................................................................... 42 Site Selection Study ................................................................................................................. 42 Aerial Photograph .................................................................................................................... 43 Design and Construction .......................................................................................................... 44 Site Activities ............................................................................................................................ 44 Test Boring .................................................................................................................. 44 Removal of Vegetation ................................................................................................ 44 Grading and Drainage Provisions ............................................................................... 45 Access Roads ............................................................................................................. 45 Removal