LOCATION/TYPE

NEWS HOME


[ exact phrase in "" • results by date ]

[ Google-powered • results by relevance ]

Archive
RSS

Add NWW headlines to your site (click here)

WHAT TO DO
when your community is targeted

Get weekly updates
RSS

RSS feeds and more

Keep Wind Watch online and independent!

Donate via Stripe

Donate via Paypal

Selected Documents

All Documents

Research Links

Alerts

Press Releases

FAQs

Campaign Material

Photos & Graphics

Videos

Allied Groups

Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005.

News Watch Home

Wind farm; Courtenay project to go before county board 

Credit:  By Keith Norman | The Jamestown Sun | www.jamestownsun.com ~~

The first wind farm project planned for Stutsman County will seek approval under the county’s zoning ordinance on Wednesday, according to Casey Bradley, county auditor/chief operating officer for Stutsman County.

The zoning ordinance was originally passed in 2009, updated in late 2013 and details the allowable locations for the wind turbines and required road maintenance and upgrades.

The request by Geronimo Wind Energy for the Courtenay Wind farm is the first to fall under the regulations.

Plans for the Courtenay Wind farm include erecting 100 turbines each with a 2-megawatt capacity. The estimated cost of the project is $350 million. The wind farm will be located in northeast Stutsman County with five towers planned in Nogosek Township, 70 towers in Durham Township, 31 towers in Courtenay Township and 21 in Gray Township.

The plan the zoning board will consider includes 127 possible locations for wind turbines of which 100 will ultimately be selected. Geronimo Wind has paid the application fee of $500 per possible turbine location to Stutsman County, Bradley said.

“They have some variance requests and we need to verify they meet the conditions of the permit,” Bradley said. “This is a public hearing so the public can give input.”

Bradley said the hearing will also address some setback issues where wind turbines are planned closer than regulations allow to occupied homes or property lines.

“They have permission from adjacent landowners as part of the contracts for the locations where they are asking for a variance,” he said.

The county conditional use permit is among the last steps before project construction. The wind farm was approved by the North Dakota Public Service Commission on Nov. 12. The electricity generated by the wind farm could power as many as 60,000 homes. The electricity will be sold to Xcel Energy.

“The plan for right now is to begin construction as soon as we can get on the roads,” said Betsy Engelking, vice president of development for Geronimo Wind. “As soon as we get out of the mud season.”

Engelking said the first step is to improve the roads in the area to handle the heavy construction equipment used to erect the wind turbines. Estimates for the cost of the road work on the Courtenay Wind project weren’t available, but Geronimo spent as much as $5 million on roads in other wind farm projects, she said.

“We upgrade the roads at the beginning of the project and fix up any damage we do during the project,” Engelking said. “We always leave the roads better at the end than we found them.”

Bradley said the plans for road upgrades included mostly gravel township roads, many of which would receive “significant” upgrades. The county also will require Geronimo Wind Energy to create an escrow account to guarantee the roads will be maintained through the project.

After the roads are completed construction will start on the wind turbines. Engelking estimated the turbine construction phase of the project would be complete by October. The turbines are then tested and brought online one at a time.

“We want to be completely online by the end of the year,” she said. “The North Dakota tax credit expires at the end of the year.”

Projects completed this year are eligible for tax benefits from the state of North Dakota. Those credits may not be available for projects completed in 2015.

Source:  By Keith Norman | The Jamestown Sun | www.jamestownsun.com

This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.

The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.

Wind Watch relies entirely
on User Contributions
   Donate via Stripe
(via Stripe)
Donate via Paypal
(via Paypal)

Share:

e-mail X FB LI M TG TS G Share


News Watch Home

Get the Facts
CONTACT DONATE PRIVACY ABOUT SEARCH
© National Wind Watch, Inc.
Use of copyrighted material adheres to Fair Use.
"Wind Watch" is a registered trademark.

 Follow:

Wind Watch on X Wind Watch on Facebook Wind Watch on Linked In

Wind Watch on Mastodon Wind Watch on Truth Social

Wind Watch on Gab Wind Watch on Bluesky