By TIM ALEXANDER
Illinois Correspondent

MACOMB, Ill. — A 100-plus turbine wind energy project approved unanimously by the Adams County board in western Illinois represents the latest wind farm project to move forward in the state – despite vocal concerns expressed by many rural residents citing noise, “flicker” effect, impact on roadways and safety issues as reasons to oppose the development.

Despite testimony from wind farm opponents who claim flicker effect and noise from wind turbines has negatively impacted their quality of life, the Adams County board approved the ordinance setting construction guidelines on Aug. 10.

Several changes in the county’s wind zoning ordinance were made in the days preceding the vote, including increasing the setback from non participating residences to 1,320 feet and requiring turbines to be set back 1.5 times their height from those properties.

Acciona’s $300 million Prairie Mills project, which will produce enough power for 40,000 average homes, could be online within two years, according to local news sources. Six local residents who addressed the Adams County board before the vote said they were against allowing Acciona access to the county’s rural landscape for the construction of a wind farm.

The six were simply echoing the concerns of many rural dwellers throughout the state who are located in target areas for wind energy projects, according to Jolene Willis, wind energy program assistant for the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs.

“It is normal when you are dealing with a new and emerging industry that is as fast-growing as wind has been, that people would have questions about the impact on their area associated with a project of that magnitude,” said Willis, whose office is located in Macomb, on the campus of Western Illinois University. “It’s just as when any other big development projects come along, whether it’s a big box store or a wind farm.”

Willis said most of the questions spurred by wind energy developments are about construction issues, composition of materials used, the strength of a tower’s foundation and general questions about how a project of such magnitude unfolds.

“People are also interested in the (number of) local jobs created and the indirect jobs created by the construction phase,” she said, adding that shadow flicker, turbine noise, safety and potential wear and tear on rural roads are also big concerns of potential wind farm lessors and neighbors.

“We are seeing more ordinances around the state ... requesting a public safety plan, submitted as part of the application process” and covering the construction phase through dismantling, Willis said. “All of these are fair (issues) to ask of developers.”

According to The Associated Press, officials in McLean County are considering a plan that could bring a more than 200-turbine wind farm to central Illinois. Horizon Wind Energy is asking for a permit that would allow up to 223 turbines, each standing up to 499 feet.

The proposed Bright Stalk Wind Farm would produce between 300-400 megawatts (MW) of wind energy. That’s enough to power between 90,000-120,000 homes.

Staying power?
Willis is “encouraged” wind farm investments in Illinois are on the rebound after a couple of down years, and looks forward to the financial benefits more developments can bring to struggling rural communities.

“I’m optimistic. The slowdown in the big, corporate utility-scale projects due to the financial recession seems to be leveling out,” she said.

Blake Roderick, Illinois representative for the National 25x25 Coalition and executive director of the Pike-Scott County Farm Bureau, said members from his area – which borders Adams County to the south – are looking forward to wind energy.

“The Adams County issue is interesting. We’re sitting down here in Pike (County) wishing we had that development down in our area,” said Roderick. “We are excited by the announcement by Ameren that they are developing some more electrical transmission (capacity) for Illinois and Missouri, and some of that is going to open up new avenues for wind development.

“We’ve found that in our area, we have an abundance of wind resources but a big bottleneck on getting it out of the area because of the electrical transmission infrastructure.”

The Illinois Farm Bureau has gone on record in support of wind energy projects, citing wind farms as a means of preserving farmland and helping farmers defray costs.

Manufacturing investments
Illinois has emerged as a major player in the burgeoning wind energy industry, with several companies opening up or retooling their manufacturing processes to manufacture towers, turbines, nacelles and other components.

According to the American Wind Energy Assoc. (AWEA), as of Aug. 20, Illinois ranked sixth in the nation in existing wind power capacity, with 1848.02 MW. The state has another 437.4 MW in expected capacity from projects under construction, of which at least nine were listed by the AWEA.

The Center for Renewable Energy at Illinois State University published an Economic Impact of Wind Power in Illinois study in June 2009, calling wind energy ”a bright spot in a struggling economy. Wind farms represent new sources of economic development all over Illinois, and communities across the state are already benefiting from wind energy.

“Rural communities often see the greatest benefit from wind development in the form of landowner payments, property taxes and locally-sourced components and labor. Wind developers also often rely heavily on local sources for concrete, sand, rebar, aggregate and other construction supplies.”

On Aug. 4, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) released its 2009 Wind Technologies Market Report, in which the United States was identified as the second fastest-growing wind power market in the world, trailing only China.

“At this pace, wind power is on a path to becoming a significant contributor to the U.S. power mix,” stated the report’s co-author, Berkeley scientist Ryan Wiser. “Wind power projects accounted for 39 percent of all new electric generating capacity added in the U.S. in 2009, and wind energy is now able to deliver 2.5 percent of the nation’s electricity supply.”

Wind power growth in 2009 was distributed across much of the U.S., the study revealed, with Texas’ 2,292 MW of new wind power leading the nation (Illinois was not listed in the top five). Twenty-eight states saw new wind farms constructed within their borders last year, according to the DOE.

In addition, the report stated market growth is spurring manufacturing investments in the U.S. by turbine makers from Europe, Japan, India and China. That could translate to jobs for struggling rural areas of the U.S., a possibility that leaves rural development experts like Willis even more encouraged.

“Here at the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs, we are looking at anything that would help schools or communities try to capture savings or provide future sustainable development projects that provide additional sources of revenue,” Willis said. “We see wind as component of sustainable development projects and rural development in Illinois.”