Mineral wind turbines likely to arrive in summer 2011

Credit:  Megan Miller, Cumberland Times-News, www.times-news.com 19 January 2010

KEYSER, W.Va. — Construction on the Pinnacle Wind Project in Mineral County could begin, at the earliest, in fall 2010, but the first turbines probably won’t be installed until summer 2011, according to David Friend, vice president of project developer US Wind Force.

On Jan. 11, the West Virginia Public Service Commission approved a permit to allow the project, which has been in development since 2002, to move forward. It will consist of up to 23 wind turbines strung along the top of Green Mountain a few miles west of Keyser.

The final schedule for construction depends on a power purchase agreement with the University of Maryland that’s still being negotiated, Friend told a handful of area residents at a public meeting on the project held Monday night.

“We suspect within the next month we’ll have the PPA in place,” he said.

When asked if the project would still proceed if the power purchase agreement does not go through, Friend said the answer is a tentative yes.

“It’s not a guarantee, but I think it will,” he said.

The University of Maryland is looking to purchase renewable energy credits from Pinnacle to “green” its energy consumption. The credits represent electricity generated from a renewable source — in this case, a Pinnacle wind turbine — but are separate from the actual electricity produced by the wind farm, which will be sold into the PJM regional transmission grid.

Friend explained that the power purchase agreement would be for a 20-year period, and would guarantee a set income for the wind farm for that length of time, instead of one susceptible to market highs and lows.

Friend said construction contracts haven’t yet been awarded for the project, but estimated they will be “pretty well locked down” by June 2010, if the project proceeds on schedule.

Based on the current project plans, Friend said the turbines will probably be Mitsubishi turbines, assembled in Japan and floated across the ocean to a port in Texas. The turbines will then be hauled to the construction site by truck.

He added that the current transportation plans do not call for the turbines to travel through Keyser, but instead from Interstate 79 through Elkins and Mount Storm to the construction site.

Friend also gave an update on the developer’s plans to establish a “Community Benefit Fund”?to provide “locally controlled financial resources for community projects,” as the fund was described in a US Wind Force release.

Friend said the company had considered placing the fund under the control of the tri-county Community Trust Foundation, but instead would form a separate foundation under the control of a local board. He said US?Wind Force had engaged an attorney to go through the process of setting up the foundation in the next several months.

“We thought it would be easier to manage longterm and make local control more assured,” Friend explained of the decision. “The decisions will be made by people in the community. The company’s role will be essentially to write a check.”

Tags: Wind power, Wind energy

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