December 4, 2015
Virginia

Wind farm developer to hold open house in Botetourt County

By Laurence Hammack | The Roanoke Times | December 3, 2015 | www.roanoke.com

Apex Clean Energy will hold a public meeting Wednesday to share information about its plans for a wind farm in Botetourt County.

The informal session will run from 5 to 7 p.m. at Eagle Rock Elementary School.

For the past year, Apex has been pursuing plans to build up to 25 turbines, each one as tall as 550 feet, as part of a renewable energy project on top of North Mountain, about five miles northeast of Eagle Rock.

In late October, the Charlottesville company filed an application with the county for a special exception permit, which it must obtain under a new ordinance that regulates commercial wind farms.

Although a formal review of the application will not get underway until early next year, Apex says the meeting will be an opportunity for the public to ask questions and learn more about the proposed operation.

“We’re a Virginia company and are very proud to be working on potentially the first commercial wind farm in the state,” Apex spokesman Kevin Chandler wrote in an email.

Dubbed Rocky Forge Wind, the 80-megawatt project is expected to produce enough electricity to power up to 20,000 homes.

Once the turbines convert wind power to electricity, it will be transferred onto the power grid through a Dominion Virginia Power utility line that crosses the 7,355-acre site.

Apex says it hopes to have the wind farm in operation by late 2017.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2015/12/04/wind-farm-developer-to-hold-open-house-in-botetourt-county/