March 8, 2013
Minnesota

Wind farm developer gives up on SE Minnesota site

David Shaffer | StarTribune | March 7, 2013 | www.startribune.com

EDP Renewables, a Houston-based wind power developer, has ended efforts to build a large wind farm in southeast Minnesota, a company spokesman said Thursday.

The West Concord Project was proposed for the corner of Goodhue, Dodge, Steele and Rice counties. At the time the site was chosen in 2008, a new electric transmission line was proposed to run nearby, said Adam Renz, an EDP spokesman. But the final route of the planned CapX2020 transmission line shifted too far away from the site, making it too expensive to connect the wind farm, he said.

EDP had leases with landowners for potential wind turbine sites, but the company never sought regulatory approval for the project and has let the leases expire, Renz said. Landowners were notified in October that development work had ceased.

The project is unrelated to Goodhue Wind, a proposed wind farm near Red Wing that has faced local opposition. Developer of that project is New Era Wind Farm LLC.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/03/08/wind-farm-developer-gives-up-on-se-minnesota-site/