By MICHELE F. MIHALJEVICH
Indiana Correspondent

VAN WERT, Ohio — Two renewable energy companies are developing wind farms in northwestern Ohio and more could be on the way for several states in the Farm World area.

Iberdrola Renewables, based in Portland, Ore., plans to build more than 150 wind turbines on its Blue Creek Wind Farm in Van Wert and Paulding counties. Horizon Wind Energy, headquartered in Houston, Texas, has started construction on what eventually will be more than 100 turbines in Paulding County.

The first two turbines were erected in early June at Blue Creek and most are expected to be up and running by the end of the year, said Dan Litchfield, Iberdrola’s project developer. When completed, the farm’s 152 turbines will generate 304 megawatts of electricity.

Iberdrola hopes to get permits to add eight more towers, which would bring the amount of electricity produced to 320 MW, Litchfield added.

The terrain of the area played a key role in Iberdrola’s decision to bring a wind farm to northwestern Ohio, he explained: “It’s very flat and very open. In that area, the wind just howls through there.”

Also important is the area’s proximity to two big electrical transmission lines and the fact the land is all used for agriculture, he noted.

Iberdrola is the second largest wind developer in the United States and has about 50 wind farms in 17 states, including farms in Illinois and Iowa, said Paul Copleman, the company’s communications manager.

“If you look at where we were 10 years ago versus now, the industry has experienced tremendous growth as the result of several different factors,” he stated. “People want this. They want clean, homegrown, reliable energy. They like the economic benefits and that these are jobs that can’t be exported. The technology has improved dramatically and the electricity is easily integrated into the power grid.”
Iberdrola will sell about one-third
of the farm’s output to FirstEnergy Solutions. The company is actively marketing the rest, Litchfield said.

Horizon and AEP Ohio, a unit of American Electric Power, signed a 20-year agreement last year to purchase power from Horizon’s farm. A project manager for Horizon in Ohio didn’t return messages seeking additional information.
Iberdrola is looking to develop projects in several states, including Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee, along with additional farms in Ohio, Copleman said. Horizon has 27 wind farms, including several in Illinois, Iowa and western Indiana.

Kim Wissman, executive director of the Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB), expects more companies to develop wind farms across the state, thanks in part to Ohio’s Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard. According to the policy, by 2025, a quarter of electricity sold in the state must be generated from alternative energy sources. At least half that energy must come from renewable energy sources, and at least half of the renewable energy must come from facilities in Ohio, Wissman explained.

“We’re not too surprised that we’re seeing a lot of wind farms,” she said. “Most popped up where wind is most available.

“We expected there would be some wind development in Ohio, and we’re not expecting the development to slow anytime soon. Technologies are evolving. They’re building taller turbines to capture higher wind speeds.”

The OPSB, an entity of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, is responsible for determining environmental compatibility and public need for construction and operation of major utility facilities, including those capable of producing 50 MW or more of electricity. To date, the OPSB has certified six wind farms totaling 555 turbines and up to 1,032 MW.

Blue Creek covers an area of roughly 80 square miles, Litchfield said, adding about 24,000 acres have been leased for the project. Each turbine produces 2 MW of power and is 476 feet tall to the top of the blades.

“The higher you go, the higher the wind speeds,” Litchfield explained. Wind speeds of nine to 55 mph are ideal for the turbines, which shut down if sustained winds reach more than 55 mph.

Each turbine is carefully situated to take maximum advantage of the available wind, Copleman noted. “We’ve become smarter about how to set up these projects. We look at each site very carefully. We’re building green electricity. We’re not just the developer, we’re also the long-term owner. We’re going to be in the community,” he said.

To develop and construct Blue Creek required an investment of about $600 million, Copleman said. The project created more than 300 construction jobs. About 15-20 permanent employees will work at the farm once it’s complete.
Landowners with turbines on their property are paid $8,000-$10,000 per year per turbine, Litchfield explained, adding each turbine uses three-quarters of an acre or less. Residents who might have parcels of land used for gravel roads, power lines or as setbacks are also compensated, as are neighbors who live within the project area but who won’t have turbines or other parts of the project on their property. Payments are based on how much a particular resident may be affected, Litchfield noted.

After a company submits a plan for a wind farm, the OPSB considers several factors, such as if the farm is consistent with plans for the transmission grid, Wissman said. The board also looks at the probable environmental impact of such a farm. Generally, the approval process can take about a year, she noted.
During the process, there are several opportunities for public comments. In the cases the OPSB has considered, the primary concerns of neighbors have been noise, shadow flicker (shadows from the turning of the blades) and the impact on land values, Wissman stated. Some neighbors have also expressed concern about the safety of birds, the impact to the ecology and the general aesthetics of the turbines.

Even before the approval process started, Iberdrola officials visited with county leaders and local residents to answer questions and address possible concerns, Litchfield said. “We went to a lot of meetings, to school board meetings and county board meetings and answered a lot of questions. We didn’t win everyone over, but we’ve had good support.”

Many residents appreciate the additional tax revenue generated by the wind farms, according to Clair Dudgeon, a Van Wert County commissioner. Under a bill passed last year by the Ohio legislature, wind companies pay a set fee for each megawatt of electricity generated, rather than paying property taxes. Iberdrola officials expect to pay $18,000 per turbine per year.

In addition, construction workers staying in hotels and eating in local restaurants have helped the economy in the area, Dudgeon noted. “It’s a win-win for us. We’re sitting in a pretty good spot as long as we get the constant wind,” he said.

Some area residents aren’t pleased with the turbines and the changes they’ve brought to the look of the area, he added.

“Some say, ‘I didn’t buy my home to have a tower built a quarter mile away,’” Dudgeon said. “But the company has tried to win over as many as possible. And once they get up and running in a few months, you’ll see a lot of cars parked on the sides of the roads to see what’s going on.”