| Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005. |
Wind turbines may find home near Ashland
Credit: By Nick Draper | Jacksonville Journal Courier | August 8, 2016 | myjournalcourier.com ~~
Translate: FROM English | TO English
Translate: FROM English | TO English
ASHLAND – Dozens of wind turbines soon could dot Cass and Menard counties as part of a wind farm.
American Wind Energy Management, an alternative energy company based out of Springfield since 2008, is looking at placing 17 to 25 wind turbines north of Ashland to supply 35 to 50 megawatts of power to customers through Ameren Illinois’s power grid, company spokesman Chris Nickell said.
“We will be selling the power wholesale,” Nickell said. “We may not sell directly to a utility provider. A common customer [is] commercial or industrial.”
One turbine produces around 2 to 3 megawatts and each turbine has a footprint of a third to a half acre. Turbines must be spaced out to operate at maximum efficiency, so these turbines will ideally be spaced many acres apart from each other, Nickel said.
The company, which has projects to generate 130 to 150 megawatts around Sangamon County, decided to put the wind farm in this area after the results of a study showed the grid could accept additional power.
“There’s a few key pieces you need to build a wind farm,” Nickell said. “Land is one, but the electrical interconnection is just as important … we’ve already done the study to determine how much power the grid can accept.”
The company is working with landowners in Cass and Menard counties to secure land needed for the farms. Landowners can expect around $12,000 to $15,000 a year for each turbine installed, according to the company. Additionally, the project – which could cost about $60 million – is valued at $360,000 per megawatt generated for property tax purposes.
For this project, a potential $18 million in property tax value could result in about $1 million in additional tax revenue for schools, the company said.
“By state law, wind turbines are taxed on the property tax rule, just like houses,” Nickell said.
Though the project is still in the early stages, Nickell said a meteorological tower has been put into place to collect data on the wind speed, wind direction, temperature, humidity and other factors necessary to calculate what the output potential. There is no timeline for the project.
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=78841 ]
