September 2, 2020
Indiana

RWE no longer pursuing wind farm project in Posey, Gibson County

By Jake Boswell | WEHT | Sep 1, 2020 | www.tristatehomepage.com

RWE pulls the plug on its idea to put a 30,000 acre wind farm in Posey and Gibson counties. The company says recent restrictions put on wind farms have made the effort no longer worthwhile. And even though the idea of wind energy in those areas is dead, the idea of renewable energy is not.

Posey County passed an ordinance requiring turbines to be at least 2.5 times the height of the turbine away from homes. The Gibson County ordinance is 4.4 times the height of the turbine. RWE says wind speeds in the area were marginal for a productive wind farm and the restrictions would not make the project profitable.

Opponents also fought to keep turbines away from the Doppler Radar site, and to keep them at least two miles from any schools or town limits.

“Our opinion was not the driver. It’s really the facts from the experts,” said Scott Fisher with POCO Wind, “In this case, the Natoinal Weather Service, the army, came out in November with basically the same data.”

There is another renewable energy company waiting in the wings. Officials say at least one solar energy producer is looking at Posey County with one of the farms covering as much as 2,000 acres. But opponents of wind farms say they want more details before deciding if they will oppose or support a solar farm.

“These are two different animals. The industrial wind turbine project, presented some specific issues for our area that had to be highlighted and the community had to be educated on to really come up with an appropriate response, and I would expect the same issues with solar,” said Fisher.

Officials have not said what solar energy companies may be looking at the area, or what time table they might have to build solar farms

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2020/09/02/rwe-no-longer-pursuing-wind-farm-project-in-posey-gibson-county/