| Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005. |
The answer to Pratt County energy farm is still blowin’ in the wind
Credit: By Ashley Booker | The Hutchinson News | August 25, 2015 | www.hutchnews.com ~~
Translate: FROM English | TO English
Translate: FROM English | TO English
NextEra officials say a plan to build a wind farm in Pratt County is still on after withdrawing a request for longer turbine blades.
On Aug. 14, NextEra, a clean energy company, sent a letter to Pratt County Commissioners saying it wanted to withdraw its request to change the county zoning language on commercial wind energy criteria regarding how low a turbine blade can be to the ground.
This request was made in relation to the Pratt County Commercial Wind Energy Project to build the Ninnescah wind farm.
The letter stated the company had time to consult with the project’s turbine supplier and was able to find a model turbine that would comply with the county’s minimum blade clearance standards and regulations, said Steve Stengel, a spokesman for NextEra Energy Resources.
“There was no need to modify the zoning ordinance when we had a turbine that would comply,” he said.
The blade won’t be “materially different” than what the company would have used, and “it’s not going to change the project significantly one way or another.”
Stengel said although the company withdrew its request, the project is still on.
The project is still estimated to bring nearby communities $300 million in capital investment and up to 200 construction jobs and several permanent jobs.
The wind farm is projected to be finished in 2016.
Westar Energy will be purchasing the energy from this 200-megawatt wind farm, according to a Westar statement.
Originally, the Pratt County Planning Board and Board of Zoning Appeals set a meeting Monday to discuss NextEra’s request to change the criteria, which states a blade can be 85 feet from the ground, to 70 feet instead.
The board scheduled a public hearing to discuss the request July 27.
But board members had to reschedule it to Monday after realizing they hadn’t told the public about it.
NextEra has preapproval from the county of the project, but it still owes the county the final project configurations to sign off on, Stengel said.
“We expect to submit that later this year and would expect the county to sign off yet this year,” he said.
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 Funding |
 (via Stripe) |
 (via Paypal) |
Share:
[ Short URL: https://wind-watch.org/news/?p=73319 ]
