An international wind energy company wants to bring 72 wind turbines and thousands of dollars in revenue to southwest Henry County, but the plans hinge on whether winds here are blowing hard enough.
During two meetings this week, representatives from the company Nordex, which has placed turbines on six continents, spoke to county officials about their hopes to bring a wind farm to an area reaching from Ind. 3 west to the county line and from Interstate 70 south into Rush County.
After the County Council meeting on Wednesday, Howard Kruger, project development consultant for Nordex, said three factors drew the company to the county. Kruger said that the county has capacity available on its power lines, that the county's location allows the company to sell energy to the east and west and that the county has farmers who are willing to work with Nordex.
"I'm yet to have someone run me off their farm," Kruger said.
However, there are problems. Wind speeds here may not be high enough, and Indiana's taxation laws make it difficult for wind farms to operate financially.
The company has already placed a meteorological tower on an agricultural area on South Road 75E to measure wind speeds in the county for one to two years.
If the wind blows fast enough, an 180-megawatt, $360 million wind farm could bring big money for both county government and the landowners affected by it.
Nordex officials told the County Council that the company could end up paying county government $1.44 million in taxes each year if the state adopts similar tax laws for wind turbines to the laws in Ohio. In addition, the company could pay about $1 million a year to landowners who allow Nordex to place the 100-meter turbines on or near their properties.
Company officials also said Nordex would pay to improve many county roads if the wind farm is created so their trucks can drive on them.
"Henry County bungled ethanol," County Council President Nate LaMar said this week. "We don't want to bungle wind energy. We've got to get it right this time."
Gary Wilson of the Henry County Purdue Cooperative Extension Service has been working with Nordex on its plans for the county.
"Our thesis today is bringing ... an understanding ... of what they can do for Henry County and what Henry County can do for them and of what as a tandem team we can do green-wise for the United States of America," Wilson told the council during a presentation on Wednesday.
In addition to wind speeds and the taxation issue, one other obstacle could stand in Nordex's way: Henry County's airport. On Wednesday, officials with the New Castle-Henry County Board of Aviation Commissioners said they are working with the Federal Aviation Administration to ensure that the possible wind farm would not interfere with plans to expand the airport's runway.
Farmers, Wilson and representatives from Nordex have been working together since earlier this year. But what happens next depends on what the meteorological towers find. Kruger said his company plans to place another tower for measuring wind speed in Rush County in the near future.
"If the wind speeds don't pan out, we go away," Kruger said.
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