May 10, 2011
Illinois

New wind farm near Alexis discussed at Rotary

Daily Review Atlas, www.reviewatlas.com 10 May 2011

MONMOUTH – Roger Brown, BP business developer, presented information on wind energy at Monday’s Rotary meeting.

Brown said British Petroleum decided to get into the wind business to diversify. The oil company is also involved in solar power.

Currently, Brown is trying to develop a wind farm project in the northern part of Warren County. The project would spill over into Mercer and Henderson counties as well as land near Alexis. Brown estimated the project would return $2 million to the three counties in taxes, in addition to additional money to residents. The project could yield more revenue in the future depending on power output.
Brown said the project has been in development for a couple of years as BP does research and searches for a power buyer. He said it’s normal for development to take a while.

“Development could take years and building can be done in 6-8 months,” he said.

As part of development, the company has to undertake a number of environmental studies. For example, noise must be under 41 decibels at nearby homes. The developers must also capture bats and identify them to make sure there are no endangered species. BP must also do soil tests to determine how deep the pedestals (foundations) should be.

A few audience members asked questions, but no one raised an objection.

Brown hopes to start production next year and finish the project by 2012. He said the company can build two turbines a day once they get started.

“It just takes time and patience,” he said.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/05/10/new-wind-farm-near-alexis-discussed-at-rotary/