October 8, 2010
Michigan

No action taken on request for two new wind districts

BY KATE HESSLING, Tribune Staff Writer, Huron Daily Tribune, www.michigansthumb.com 8 October 2010

Citing a need to see “the big picture” in terms of all the parcels wind developers have leased in the area, planning commissioners on Wednesday refrained from acting on a request for two new wind districts in Huron County.

The districts are for two projects that, combined, will be in the neighborhood of 500 megawatts, said Brad Lila, of RES Americas, during Wednesday evening’s Huron County Planning Commissioners meeting.

He estimated the combined, projects will consist of 200 to 250 turbines, though the company hasn’t made any final decisions as to what type of turbines will be used.

At first, RES Americas was looking at using 1.5 megawatt turbines, however, as technology has advanced, the company now is looking at using 2 or 2.3 megawatt turbines, Lila said. Because technology is advancing so rapidly, it may be possible to use 3 megawatt turbines by the time the new transmission loop is built and the project is ready for construction.

Lila said RES Americas currently is about 90 to 95 percent of the way through the land acquisition process, and he gave planning commissioners maps identifying areas that RES Americas has parcels leased for wind developments.

The first area, which RES Americas is requesting a wind district to begin planning a project called Deerfield Wind Farm, is in the northeast portion of the county. As of the beginning of August, RES Americas had leases for that project in sections of Bloomfield, Dwight, Gore, Huron and Lincoln townships.

Read the full version of this article in the Huron Daily Tribune or online in our e-Edition.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2010/10/08/no-action-taken-on-request-for-two-new-wind-districts/