January 23, 2019
New York

Wind farms proposed for Steuben, Schuyler Chenango counties

New York wind farms planned for Steuben, Schuyler Chenango | Jeff Platsky | Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin | Jan. 23, 2019 | www.pressconnects.com

One of New York’s largest land-based wind farms will stretch across the Steuben County towns of Cameron, Canisteo, Greenwood, Jasper, Troupsburg and West Union, according to an announcement by the state agency helping to fund solar projects.

The 290-megawatt project – enough to supply about 50,000 homes depending on seasonal demand – is one of 20 sustainable energy projects approved by the state as part of an initiative to wean power users from fossil fuels to renewables. Invenergy will build the wind farm. The project will include 20 megawatts of energy storage.

Representatives of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority could not specify the number of turbines to be erected in the the wind farm, now known as the Canisteo project. But, based on turbine capacity now being installed at similar wind farms, the Steuben project would require nearly 80 towers.

The Chicago-based energy company has 135 renewable-energy projects across the world, producing 21,700 megawatts of electricity.

In announcing the projects, NYSERDA did not disclose the value of individual projects and the state incentives given to developers, but said the projects represent $1.5 billion in state investment leveraging another $4 billion in clean energy investments.

The largest New York wind farm, the 300-megawatt Maple Ridge installation, is in the Tug Hill Plateau, and includes the towns of Lowville, Martinsburg, Harrisburg and Watson in Lewis County.

Schuyler County and Chenango County will be the homes of two other projects approved by the state.

Calpine Corp. will build a 99-megawatt wind farm, accompanied by 5 megawatts of energy storage, in the Town of Guilford. Calpine is also in the midst of planning a 124-megawatt, 33-tower wind farm in the eastern Broome County Town of Sanford and Windsor.

NextEra Energy Resources will build a 50-megawatt solar facility in the Town of Dix.

All wind projects will have to be reviewed by the Public Service Commission before construction.

“Several projects will break ground as early as August 2019, and all projects are expected to be operational by 2022, adding over 1,654 megawatts of renewable capacity in New York and generating over 3,800,000 megawatt hours of energy annually,” said Alicia Barton, president and CEO of NYSERDA. “The projects are expected to generate enough clean, renewable energy to reduce carbon emissions by more than 2 million metric tons, the equivalent to taking nearly 437,000 cars off the road.”

Among the other large projects included in the most recent round of state approvals:

• NextEra Energy Resources will build a 280-megawatt solar facility, accompanied by 20 megawatts of energy storage, in the Town of Byron, Genesee County.
• Apex Clean Energy will build a 147-megawatt wind farm in the Town of Barre, Orleans County.
• Invenergy will build a 180-megawatt solar facility in the Town of Caledonia, Livingston County.
• EDF Renewables will build a 170-megawatt solar facility in the Town of Mount Morris, Livingston County.
• Avangrid Renewables will build a 90.5 megawatt solar facility in the Town of Canajoharie, Montgomery County.

In his recent budget address, Gov. Andrew Cuomo ramped up his sustainable energy goal to 70 percent of the state’s power needs by 2030, up from the previous target of 50 percent.

At the end of 2017, New York had 1,700 megawatts of wind power capacity, according to the New York Independent System Operator, which operates the state’s electric grid.