September 9, 2015
Ohio

Could more wind turbines be headed to the area?

Sep 8 - McClatchy-Tribune Content Agency, LLC - Norwalk Reflector, Ohio | www.energycentral.com

The Greenwich area isn’t the only local community that might experience wind energy in the near future.

According to appexenergy.com, Apex Clean Energy is considering constructing Firelands Wind, a clean energy project expected to generate about 99 megawatts of renewable electricity.

Firelands Wind, located in rural Erie and Huron counties, could offer an opportunity to address Ohio’s growing electricity demand “with clean domestic energy, while diversifying the local economy and supporting the rural farm community,” according to the website.

The proposed Firelands Wind project is northeast of Bellevue and more than 10 miles from Sandusky. The project is expected to include about 35 to 45 modern wind turbines, which will be interspersed across active farmland south of Interstate 80.

A state board, meanwhile, recently approved the development of Greenwich Windpark, LLC. The project calls for 4,600 acres and comprises 25 turbines, each 490.5 feet tall with rotor diameters of up to 383 feet.

Greenwich Neighbors United (GNU), which opposes the project, has expressed concerns about noise, proximity to GNU’s members’ land and health effects.

The Ohio Power Siting Board initially approved Greenwich Windpark, LLC, but Omega Crop Co. owners, Greenwich area residents and GNU activists Gerald and Connie Oney filed for a petition for a rehearing.

Omega has argued, among other things, that Windlab USA, the developer, hasn’t obtained the necessary waivers as required by law from adjacent property owners to bypass the required property setback requirements.

But a spokesman for the board said the body’s members didn’t find merit in Omega’s arguments.

Omega’s attorney, Sam Randazzo, said the Ohio Supreme Court might be the avenue his client uses to clear up the property setback issue.

“We’re pretty disappointed but there’s still hope,” Gerald Oney said. “We’re not going to give up by any means.”

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2015/09/09/could-more-wind-turbines-be-headed-to-the-area/