AWEA - Proects Update: January 2010

First Wind gets approval for Maine project:
First Wind subsidiary Evergreen Wind Power 2 received approval from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for its proposed 51-MW Oakfield Wind project in Aroostook County, Maine, the parent company said.

Situated in the town of Oakfield, the project will consist of 34 GE 1.5-MW turbines that have the capacity to produce enough clean, renewable energy to power more than 20,000 homes. Start date for construction has yet to be determined.

First Wind worked with the town to create the Oakfield Wind Energy Review Committee last year. Following public input, that committee drafted a 45-page report that was reviewed and approved by the town’s Board of Selectmen. Project Developer Alec Jarvis said, “It’s a better project because of input from the town.”

The Oakfield Wind project is expected to create numerous construction jobs and provide significant revenue to the surrounding communities. For example, First Wind spent $50 million with Maine-based businesses and employed over 350 workers during the construction of Stetson Wind, a 57-MW project in Washington County that has been in operation since January 2009. The Oakfield Wind project is expected to provide similar benefits to the region.


National Wind secures REpower’s first Minnesota order:
In a deal that will bring the manufacturers’ turbines to Minnesota for the first time, REpower Systems AG has received a contract from community wind project developer National Wind, LLC, to supply 20 of REpower’s MM92 2.05-MW wind turbines for the first phase of the Lake Country Wind Energy project in central Minnesota. All phases of the project will total 340 MW.

“Minnesota is one of the fastest-growing U.S. states for the wind business, which makes it an important and promising region for us,” said Steve Dayney, CEO of REpower USA Corp.

Jack Levi, co-chair of National Wind, called the turbine acquisition “a significant project milestone for Lake Country Wind Energy. Not only is REpower’s turbine technology an ideal fit for the project’s wind regime, it also advances Lake Country’s first phase toward a late 2010 construction. It is exciting to bring Meeker and Kandiyohi Counties’ first utility-scale community-owned wind project closer to reality.”


FAA OK’s Western Wind Energy project in Arizona:
Western Wind Energy Corp. received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration for 15 turbine locations at the developer’s Steel Park Wind Energy-Solar Energy project near Kingman, Ariz. Western Wind is in the process of finalizing a turbine supplier, engineering procurement construction contractor, and solar panel provider.

Power from the project, which is fully zoned and approved, will be sold under a power purchase agreement with utility Unisource Energy Services. The developer believes the facility will be the first of its kind, fully integrated wind-solar project under one contract.

For more information please contact Trevor Sievert at ts@windfair.net