logo
Article

Companies go forward with local wind projects

Times Bulletin|Ed Gebert|December 26, 2009
OhioGeneral

The landscape around Van Wert and Paulding counties is set for a change thanks to several companies eager to turn wind blowing across the flat terrain into electricity to power thousands of homes.


The landscape around Van Wert and Paulding counties is set for a change thanks to several companies eager to turn wind blowing across the flat terrain into electricity to power thousands of homes.

Across northern Van Wert County and southern Paulding County, landowners are signing over leases to representatives of at least three different wind energy companies which could put up a few hundred wind turbines across the region. The companies are bullish on the area due to the close proximity to electrical transmission lines and the amount of wind that passes over the area which was once known as the Great Black Swamp.

Already a few meteorological towers, or met towers, have been erected to collect vital weather information to help …

... more [truncated due to possible copyright]

The landscape around Van Wert and Paulding counties is set for a change thanks to several companies eager to turn wind blowing across the flat terrain into electricity to power thousands of homes.

Across northern Van Wert County and southern Paulding County, landowners are signing over leases to representatives of at least three different wind energy companies which could put up a few hundred wind turbines across the region. The companies are bullish on the area due to the close proximity to electrical transmission lines and the amount of wind that passes over the area which was once known as the Great Black Swamp.

Already a few meteorological towers, or met towers, have been erected to collect vital weather information to help determine the best way to use the breezes.

"They measure the wind speed and collect data for at least a year," explained Erin Edholm, communications director for Northwest Ohio Wind Energy. "That data helps determine energy estimates and wind turbine layouts. It's very important."

Edholm's company formed the local project in April 2009 after joining with a local group working on the issue.

She said, "Ohio Wind Energy Group kind of was starting to get together before we started to work with them. We started initiating discussions with the six main people involved with that, but they had put up a met tower in 2008. So we already have a year's worth of data available to us."

Northwest Ohio Wind's parent company has already developed wind farms across the country. Two are already supplying power - a 50 megawatt farm in Minnesota, and a 169.5 megawatt complex in North Dakota. Locally, the project has a stated goal of becoming a 300 megawatt wind farm with at least 200 of the nearly 400-foot turbines working across four townships.

Edholm stated that Northwest Ohio Wind Energy already is well on its way toward locking in agreements with land owners for 30,000 acres of Ohio land. "Our main goal has been getting participation in the project from local landowners. As of Dec. 4, we have 10,149 acres signed, that's over a third of the acres we need to develop the project," she pointed out.

That company is not alone in seeking out land agreements. Erin Bowser of Horizon Wind Energy said that the company she represents is doing well in terms of acquiring land rights as well.

"We have a significant amount of land leased in Union and Tully townships," she reported. "What we are doing now is a whole series of studies that need to happen in order to insure that this is a good site for wind turbines and also in preparation for submitting a permit application with the state."

According to Bowser, Horizon is the third-largest wind farm operator in the country with projects online just north of Lafayette, Indiana, and the largest wind farm east of the Mississippi River located near Bloomington, Illinois. The first step in this area will be the construction of a 48.6 megawatt wind farm in Harrison Township of Paulding County. Actual construction is set to begin in 2011 on the first phase of what will be the Timber Road Wind Farm. Bowser noted that the project name was derived from the old wooden roadways the early settlers of the Great Black Swamp built to make the area inhabitable.

Also competing for area land is Heartland Wind, LLC, which is managed by Iberdrola Renewables, Inc. Heartland is looking to construct a 350 megawatt wind farm, the Blue Creek Wind Farm, across parts of Tully, Union, and Hoaglin townships in Van Wert County and Blue Creek and Latty townships in Paulding County.

A release from Heartland Wind states that "Construction of the wind farm could begin in fall 2010, with projected operation of the first phase in late 2011 and projected operation of the second phase in late 2012."

Edholm stated that Northwest Ohio Wind Energy started later than the others, but that it hopes to be ready to file a permit application by June of 2011. "Operationally we're looking at probably 2012 for at least the first phase. That's a little ways out, but again we just formed this project this year and many people are very interested. It's come a long ways in a short time," she observed.

For Horizon, the time table seems to be similar. Bowser said, "In terms of the Van Wert project, the idea is that we could go to construction as soon as 2012. That would be the timeline we are looking at now. That could be moved up or back, depending on what happens. But Horizon will be the company that is in Van Wert for the long haul."

The Horizon project is focused on Union Township in Van Wert County, in addition to Harrison, Benton, and Blue Creek townships in Paulding County. Bowser shared that working in the area has been a positive experience.

"We have found a very supportive community, both in terms of landowners who want to partner with us and enter into a lease agreement with us," she declared. "And we have found very positive response from landowners and also the community and local leaders for the pretty significant economic impact that wind would have for the community, both in terms of jobs in construction and operation of the wind farm, and also the dollars spent at the local level."

How the three or more projects end up are still to be determined. However, with the interest expressed in the strong breezes blowing across the former swampland, the economic outlook for the area has a large bright spot.


Source:http://timesbulletin.com/main…

Share this post
Follow Us
RSS:XMLAtomJSON
Donate
Donate
Stay Updated

We respect your privacy and never share your contact information. | LEGAL NOTICES

Contact Us

WindAction.org
Lisa Linowes, Executive Director
phone: 603.838.6588

Email contact

General Copyright Statement: Most of the sourced material posted to WindAction.org is posted according to the Fair Use doctrine of copyright law for non-commercial news reporting, education and discussion purposes. Some articles we only show excerpts, and provide links to the original published material. Any article will be removed by request from copyright owner, please send takedown requests to: info@windaction.org

© 2024 INDUSTRIAL WIND ACTION GROUP CORP. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
WEBSITE GENEROUSLY DONATED BY PARKERHILL TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION