The Meadow Lake Wind Farm in northwest Indiana, which was constructed by EDP Renewables. The company is now looking to possible construct such a wind farm in Wayne, Henry and Randolph counties. Provided photo
RICHMOND — With one wind farm project already in the works in the Whitewater Valley, another could be following it in the not-so-distant future.
Wayne County Commissioners Wednesday heard a presentation from representatives of EDP Renewables, a renewable energy company headquartered in Madrid, Spain and Houston, Texas, about their plans to erect meteorological towers to measure wind speed in parts of Wayne, Henry and Randolph counties for a possible wind farm project consisting of roughly 100 turbines which would produce approximately 200 megawatts of energy.
EDP Renewables has previously constructed wind farms in White, Jasper and Benton counties – the Meadow Lake Wind Farm — and in Randolph County, with the recently-completed Headwaters Wind Farm.
Jeffrey Nemeth, project manager for EDP, told commissioners the possibility exists that one wind farm could be built in each county, or just one encompassing all three counties, according to the Richmond Palladium-Item, but that EDP is in the early stages of the process.
The possibility also exists the company would decide not to build in any of the three counties, according to Nemeth, and that studying of the respective counties wind speeds and zoning ordinances, for example, will need to take place before any decisions are made.
The turbines, if EDP constructs a wind farm, would be about 495-feet tall, including the turbine blades, with an early estimate of the costs of the project being between $1.5 to $2.2 million.
EDP also, much like NextEra Energy Resources has with the proposed Whitewater Wind Farm project in Fayette, Rush and Henry counties, would lease property from landowners in Wayne, Henry and Randolph counties in order to erect turbines for the farms.
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