Wind Power News: Arkansas
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch to help keep readers informed about developments related to industrial wind energy. They are the products of the organizations or individuals noted.
Wind dies down
Wind power was all the thing in Arkansas last year, manufacturers announcing new wind power-related plants with startling frequency. But the boom has quieted, and may stay that way until the national economy improves, and Congress grants new financial incentives for the use of wind to generate electricity.
The Arkansas Economic Development Commission has made the recruitment of wind power plants a priority, and it lists four impressive successes in its “wind component manufacturing” file:
• LM Glasfiber opened a windmill blade . . .
Washington County Planning Board discusses dirt farm, wind power
A week after the Washington County Quorum Court overturned the Planning Board’s decision to disallow a conditional-permit for the Big Red Dirt Farm to convert its operation into a quarry, Planning Board members discussed the matter at their regular meeting.
County Attorney George Butler told board members Thursday that he has heard from attorneys for the surrounding property owners who oppose the quarry conversion that they will appeal the Quorum Court’s decision to the 4th Circuit Court.
“You’re out of it,” he . . .
Planning Board formulates wind farm regulation
FAYETTEVILLE — It will be at least three or four months before Washington County leaders first consider a draft of the proposed wind farm regulations, county planner Courtney McNair said.
That framework needs to be in place before the first windmill is erected, McNair said.
The first wind turbines could go up in about a year if two wind-testing towers installed by Chicago wind-energy company Invenergy show commercial promise in the coming months. Invenergy received approval to install the towers in January.
County . . .
Planners preparing for commercial wind towers in county
If commercial wind power becomes a reality in Washington County, county planners want to be ready.
Planning Board members for the past few months have been receiving research from the planning department on general concerns involved with commercial wind operations.
What precipitated it was the approval of conditionaluse permits for towers in the county to test the feasibility of commercial wind power.
The Planning Board plans to review staff-generated information on regulation during the April 2 regular meeting.
The staff recommendation will reflect the . . .
Wind turbine project gauges state prospects
JAY, Okla. — Gusts of wind pushed across Leon Whiteside’s property, creating a low-pitched whirring noise as it cut against taut guy-wires stabilizing a nearly 200-foot tower rising from his pasture.
Several wind-measuring devices attached to the tower spun like pinwheels as dozens of cows nibbled on the yellowed grass below.
Whiteside and more than 200 of his rural neighbors stand to gain financially if the tower confirms there’s enough wind in the area to warrant building an electricity-generating wind farm there.
Last . . .
Wind turbine possible in city
A 280-foot-tall wind turbine could be one of the newest landmarks in Jonesboro.
Nordex USA plans to install the massive turbine at its new manufacturing plant to be constructed at the corner of C.W. Post Road and Cook Road.
The Metropolitan Area Planning Commission will consider the wind turbine manufacturer’s site plan at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Huntington Building, 900 West Monroe Ave.
Nordex announced in October its plan to invest $100 million at the 187-acre site for the new plant and . . .
Wind farm regulations coming; Planning board looks at national rules
FAYETTEVILLE — The possibility of commercial wind power turbines in Northwest Arkansas brings with it a host of concerns, Washington County planning director Juliet Richey said.
She presented a half-inch thick packet of information to the county’s planning board Thursday containing specific concerns and a collection of wind farm ordinances from other jurisdictions around the country.
The board agreed to review the package and come back next month to discuss what regulations Washington County should adopt regarding the growing industry.
Board members agreed . . .
Benton County planners to consider wind tower
BENTONVILLE — TradeWind Energy plans another meteorological test tower for Benton County, said Aaron Weigel, development manager. The tower would be the third for the Kansas-based company, which plans a wind farm on the Arkansas-Oklahoma boarder.
The Benton County Planning Board’s Technical Advisory Committee reviewed plans Wednesday to put the approximately 195-foot-tall meteorological tower on about 79 acres of farmland at 14200 Wet Prairie Road near Gravette.
The tower is about 200 feet away from the nearest road, according to planning documents.
The . . .
Wind energy layoffs at a glance
The wind energy industry is seeking tax incentives and grants to help it navigate the recession. Some of the recent layoffs in turbine manufacturing include:
• Clipper Windpower, a Carpinteria, Calif.–based turbine maker, said in January it was laying off 90 of the company’s 830 workers, mainly at a plant in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The Iowa facility employed nearly 390 workers.
• LM Glasfiber, a Danish manufacturer of turbine blades, said in January it was laying off 150 workers and halting production . . .
County approves towers to collect wind data
Commercial wind power could be coming to Washington County in a few years, but the first step in determining whether it will is to see if there is enough wind.
Toward that end, the Washington County Planning Board Thursday night approved conditional-use permit requests for meteorological towers to be placed on ridges in the southeast part of the county to determine the feasibility of productive wind turbines in those areas.
The conditional-use permits were approved for Invenergy Wind Development, which . . .
