National Wind Watch: Wind Energy News » Wind company to hold meetings in New Hampshire

A company that wants to build about three dozen wind turbines in the mountains of several New Hampshire communities is holding open house meetings.

Iberdrola Renewables has preliminary permission to build up to 40, 450-foot-tall wind turbines on private property in Grafton, Alexandria and Danbury. It’s called the Wild Meadows project.

Iberdrola is holding an open house Tuesday night in Grafton. Similar meetings will be held Wednesday in Alexandria and Thursday in Danbury.

The company operates a similar project in Lempster and is bringing a 24-unit wind farm online in Groton. State officials look at such projects as important steps toward generating 25 percent of the state’s energy from renewable sources by 2025.

The Citizen reports (http://bit.ly/TGi3Xf) Ed Cherian of Iberdrola said the Wild Meadows project needs approval from the New Hampshire Site Evaluation Committee, which will look at various impact studies to be completed by the company. Iberdrola can then submit a formal application to the state.

As with the Groton project, Iberdrola expects to offer the towns of Grafton, Alexandria, and Danbury an annual payment in lieu of taxes. Groton, for example, will get more than $500,000 per year for 15 years, Cherian said.

Most of the Wild Meadows turbines will be at least four to five miles away from Newfound Lake, said Cherian, and will not be visible to most people in that area. He said a three-year study done by Iberdrola under the direction of the state Fish and Game Department found that there are no special or unique habitats on the proposed turbine site, and that the turbines themselves would not pose a threat to migratory birds.

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Information from: Citizen, http://www.citizen.com