March 8, 2017
Nebraska

Wind farms receive Game and Parks approvals

Aksamit Energy Development announced March 6 it has cleared two important steps in the construction of its Milligan 1 and Milligan 3 projects. It received approval for the Milligan 3 project by both the Nebraska Game and Parks Department and the Federal Aviation Association (FAA) for the Milligan 3 project, and Nebraska Game and Parks Department approval for the Milligan 1 project.

Milligan 1 is located from 800 to 854 County Road P, which is eight and a half miles east and two south of Milligan or six miles north and one and half mile west of Western. According to Aksamit’s website, this project is the second-largest it’s working on.

Milligan 3 is located at 600 County Road E in Friend, which is just south of the Friend High football field. Aksamit’s website said it would be the first project completed.

“These are two very important steps in the process and we are pleased that things continue going as planned,” said Jason Edwards, vice president, development, for Aksamit Energy Development. “Our goal for this wind farm always has been to be good neighbors and the approval by these two agencies indicates that.”

“Based on results of pre-construction desktop analyses and surveys (i.e., whooping cranes, breeding birds, eagles, nesting raptors, prairie chickens, diurnal bird use, incidental avian use, bat use, wetlands, and sensitive plants), it appears this Project poses a low risk and will have minimal negative impacts on wildlife and natural habitats,” Michelle Koch, Fish and Wildlife Specialist with Nebraska Game and Parks wrote in the letter. “We appreciate the efforts made to avoid and minimize impacts to state trust species and their habitats. Thank you for coordinating with the Commission on this project.”

The FAA’s determination of “No hazard to air navigation” was critical to moving the Milligan 3 project forward.

“This aeronautical study revealed that the structure does not exceed obstruction standards and would not be a hazard to air navigation, provided the following condition(s), if any, is (are) met,” said the letter from the Federal Aviation Administration, Southwest Regional Office.

The conditions mentioned in the letter involve lighting and notification procedures that are standard with the construction and operation of a wind farm.

“Our Milligan 3 project is proceeding according to schedule and people are going to start seeing more activity very soon,” Edwards said. “Our engineering work on roads and bridges is on schedule with our plan to begin turbine construction this fall.”

Aksamit Energy Development is an energy development and construction company that is currently in the process of building and developing the Milligan 3 and Milligan 1 wind farm projects in Saline County, Nebraska. Milligan 3 will be a 73 megawatt project and Milligan 1 will be a 300 megawatt wind farm.