Original headline: Seneca company withdraws its application for 77-turbine wind farm | Seneca Wind Farm company withdraws application, plans to refile | Staff Report | Fremont News Messenger | Aug. 9, 2019 | Updated Aug. 10, 2019 | www.thenews-messenger.com
FREMONT – The company that has proposed a 77-turbine wind farm in Seneca County is withdrawing its application to the Ohio Power Siting Board, citing a filing error, but said it will refile its request in the fall once the mistake has been corrected.
“Doing this right is more important than trying to continue forward at this time. We want to make sure the process is done correctly,” said Jeffery Nemeth, Director of Wind Development for sPower.
A similar project, the Republic Wind Farm, proposed for Seneca and Sandusky counties, has generated opposition from residents who have raised a number of objections, including concerns over erecting turbines in a region where much of the land lies on an unstable karst foundation.
In a news release issued Friday, sPower said that after it received a Determination of No Hazard permit from the Federal Aviation Administration in July, the company “realized there was a mistake in how the public notices were handled, requiring the FAA to cancel the permit and provide a new public notice and comment period.”
As a result, sPower said it is withdrawing its application to the siting board, but “will refile with the OPSB when the corrected Determination of No Hazard is issued by the FAA and the OPSB can have the full set of materials it needs to properly review the project.”
“sPower remains committed to (the) Seneca project and the many landowners and communities that will benefit from the project.”
“This is a good project,” Nemeth said in the news release, “and we have every reason to believe we will receive DNHs for each turbine and will be resubmitting our application to the OPSB this fall.”
The Seneca Wind project calls for a 200-megawatt farm consisting of up to 77 wind turbines on approximately 25,000 acres of privately leased land in Scipio, Reed, Venice, Eden and Bloom townships.
Apex Clean Energy’s proposal for the Republic Wind Farm, with 47 turbines in Seneca and Sandusky county, is awaiting a ruling from the siting board, with construction expected to begin in 2020.
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2019/08/10/seneca-company-withdraws-its-application-for-77-turbine-wind-farm/