October 28, 2011
Minnesota

Wind farm proposed in Marshall Co.

By: Kevin Bonham, Grand Forks Herald, www.grandforksherald.com 27 October 2011

A 98.9-megawatt wind farm has been proposed in rural Marshall County, Minn.

The Ellerth Windpark would include 43 to 61 turbines, depending on turbine size, according to documents filed with the state.

The wind farm would be located on 33,700 acres that surround the former village of Ellerth, stretching from about two miles west of Newfolden to about four miles north of Viking.

Developers hope to begin construction in May, with completion by December.

A public information meeting is scheduled for Nov. 7 in Newfolden.

The project will create as many as 200 jobs during construction, and six to 10 permanent jobs once it is in operation, according to Rory Cantwell, project development manager for Montreal-based, Air Energy TCI.

The company is a subsidiary of TCI Renewables, based in Oxford, England. It has agreements to sell power to Otter Tail Power Co.

Air Energy TCI has secured agreements with landowners for more than 20,000 acres of the project area, according to Cantwell.

Ellerth Windpark is the first of two wind farms the company is proposing for northwest Minn.

The other is Euclid Wind, a wind farm of up to 150 megawatts near Euclid, Minn., in Polk County. That project is still in early development stages, Cantwell said.

Air Energy TCI is looking to expand into other parts of Minnesota as well as North Dakota and other Northern Plains states.

“There’s a very strong wind resource, so we look to develop further into that region, if we have a solid project,” Cantwell said.

Other projects in development are in Michigan, Ohio, New York, Wyoming, Colorado and California. The company is looking into locations in Kansas, Texas, Pennsylvania and Oregon.

Public information meeting

The Minnesota Department of Commerce will hold a meeting about the Ellerth Windpark 7 p.m. Nov. 7, at the Newfolden Community Center. An open house will begin at 6:30 p.m.


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/10/28/wind-farm-proposed-in-marshall-co/