April 19, 2016
Illinois

Logan wind farm sale could revive Sangamon County project

By Tim Landis, Business Editor | The State Journal-Register | Apr 18, 2016 | www.sj-r.com

The sale of the Sugar Creek Wind Farm project in Logan County could revive plans for a wind farm in western Sangamon County first announced in 2009.

American Wind Energy Management, based in Springfield, announced last week sale of the Logan County wind farm to Virginia-based renewable-energy developer Apex Clean Energy. The Sugar Creek project includes plans for approximately 100 turbines on 11,500 acres between New Holland and Middletown in southwest Logan County. The turbines would have 175 megawatts of capacity.

Apex has 55 wind-farm projects in two-dozen states, according to the company website, apexcleanenergy.com.

The Logan County Board approved the Sugar Creek project in 2011, but the project stalled because of low energy prices and uncertainty over federal tax credits for wind energy.

The wind farm, which is in the pre-construction phase, was sold for an unspecified amount, and no timeframe for completion was given from APEX.

“Sugar Creek is a high-quality project in an important market,” said Mark Goodwin, president of Apex. “Building on AWEM’s strong foundation of work, we look forward to bringing the project to completion.”

American Wind Energy Management site manager Chris Nickell said Monday the company also is in discussions with Apex for acquisition of the Sangamon Wind project. Initial plans for up to 200 turbines announced in 2009 have since been scaled back, but Nickell said the company has continued to collect wind and other data for the site. As with the Sugar Creek deal, AWEM would serve as the local management company.

“They are using us as their local arm to manage the operations,” said Nickell. “They are looking at it (in Sangamon County), and we hope to have an announcement soon.”

Nickell said the company has not yet filed for local permits to construct the project.

The first phase of Sangamon Wind would include 65 turbines on 20,000 acres eight miles west of Springfield. The wind farm would be bounded by Illinois 125 on the north, Interstate 72 on the south and the Morgan County line on the west.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2016/04/19/logan-wind-farm-sale-could-revive-sangamon-county-project/