Construction may begin soon for Copenhagen wind farm; turbine parts delivered from Quebec

EDF Renewables has reached the home stretch of its 80-megawatt wind farm after six years of design and planning.

Renewable Energy Systems Americas Inc., which EDF Renewables contracted to build the project, began construction in September and has built 12 miles of access roads and widened and improved existing roads near the site for delivery trucks, Mr. Devienne said.

“All of the access roads to get to the pads are all done and ready to receive components,” he said.

Almost 130 workers have been pooling the foundation and installing the pads for the 40 turbines in recent months, most of which Mr. Devienne said will be ready by the time turbine components arrive to the site; and digging trenches for the collector system.

The developer expects to complete building the facility by September and begin operating it by Nov. 30.

“It’s definitely been a long road, so I’m glad to be here near the finish line,” he said. “We still have a lot in front of us in order to get this project built and built safe, but we have a dedicated crew working at the site on the project.”

EDF Renewables has a 20-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement that will be administered by the Lewis County Industrial Development Agency when the project becomes operational. The agreement will require the developer to pay more than $19 million over the 20-year period to affected jurisdictions.

The project joins Avangrid Renewables’s Maple Ridge Wind Farm near Lowville, which became the first wind farm built on the Tug Hill Plateau in 2005.

Three other Lewis County wind farms are waiting in the wings while developers continue planning their construction: Avangrid’s Deer River and Roaring Brook wind farms and Invenergy’s Number Three Wind Farm.

Invenergy submitted an application for its project in January for the state Article 10 review process, which the state established for large-scale energy projects. The Public Service Commission, however, noted several deficiencies in its application in March that the developer needed to address.

“We’ve responded to all of them in May. We’re waiting to hear back from them,” said Invenergy spokeswoman Marguerite Wells.

Avangrid still needs to finalize the stipulations for its Article 10 review of the Deer River Wind Farm and hopes to file an application for it in the fall, said developer spokesman Art Sasse.

“We have all major permits for Roaring Brook, with only a few minor details to go,” Mr. Sasse said, “so now the project is only dependent on off-taker negotiations to determine when we might start construction.”

Upcoming Lewis County wind farms

Copenhagen Wind Farm:

■ Total wattage: 80 megawatts

■ Number of turbines: 40

■ Location: Town of Denmark

■ Phase in the Article 10 review process: NA

■ Estimated date of completion: November 2018

Number Three Wind Farm

■ Total wattage: 105.7 megawatts

■ Number of Turbines: 31 to 43

■ Location: Towns of Lowville and Harrisburg

■ Phase in the Article 10 review process: Application phase

■ Estimated date of completion: December 2019

Deer River Wind Farm

■ Total Wattage: 100 megawatts

■ Number of turbines: 39

■ Location: Towns of Pinckney, Harrisburg and Montague

■ Phase in the Article 10 review: Stipulations phase

■ Estimated date of completion: 2020 or 2021

Roaring Brook Wind Farm

■ Total wattage: 70 megawatts

■ Number of turbines: 39

■ Location: Town of Martinsburg

■ Phase in the Article 10 process: N/A

■ Estimate date of completion date: TBD