November 13, 2019
New York

Upgrading lakeshore wind turbines will cost $21.3 million

By James Fink, Reporter | Buffalo Business First | Nov 13, 2019 | www.bizjournals.com

A row of wind turbines that straddle the Lackawanna-Hamburg border and are visible from both Route 5 and Lake Erie are due for some costly maintenance.

Erie Wind I LLC and Niagara Wind Power I LLC, the owners of the 14 turbine Steel Winds project along Hamburg Turnpike and on a portion of the former Bethlehem Steel property, are planning to upgrade the 328-foot tall wind power generators including installation of new 116-foot long blades.

The company is working with the Erie County Industrial Development Agency on a specialized payment-in-lieu-of-taxes package that will help finance the project. The ECIDA has set a Nov. 18 public hearing on the PILOT.

Combined the 14 turbines produce 35 megawatts of wind power, enough to power 16,000 homes. Energy generated by the turbines goes into the New York Independent System Operator network.

“Applicant proposes to extend the useful life of the facility (Steel Winds) by engaging in a replacement project that would replace equipment and, in turn, retain jobs, continue to generate real property taxes on a site that is located on a DEC-designated brownfield site that can not easily be used for other purposes,” Steel Wind officials wrote in their ECIDA application.

The first eight turbines were constructed in 2007 and six more were added in 2012.