Newspapers from both sides of the country are reporting increased economic activity and interest resulting from the wind energy building boom that is underway. AWEA is predicting the biggest year ever in terms of new wind power capacity installed up to 2,500 MW which means that wind turbine towers are now popping up in communities across the U.S.
The Great Falls, Mont., Tribune reports that three towers are being erected a day in Montana’s first utility-scale wind power project near Judith Gap.
The rotors are expected to arrive soon, and are expected to draw a tourist crowd. When construction is complete on the first phase, 90 GE Energy 1.5-MW wind turbines will start delivering power to Northwestern Utility, a Montana utility. Invenergy Wind, the project developer, estimates that over 10 full-time operations and maintenance personnel will be needed. The project is expected to pay $30 million in property tax over its 40-year life. The paper reports that local restaurants, motels, and stores have been enjoying increased business since construction started earlier in the summer.
The Oswego, N.Y., Palladium Times reports increased business at the Port of Oswego as workers and parts arrive for the Maple Ridge Wind Farm being built near Lowville, Martinsburg and Harrisburg in Lewis County. The project is bringing in 120 Vestas 1.65-MW wind turbines this year, and next year’s planned expansion will add 75 more. “These people normally only work here periodically,” said Port director Tom McAuslan. “But I think there’s $500,000 more we’ll pay just in wages to those stevedores.”
The El Dorado, Kans., Times reports that construction on PPM Energy’s Elk River Wind Farm in Butler County began in May. Foundations were poured and towers were beginning to be erected. The construction crew estimated that the first turbines would be mechanically complete by the end of August. All of the 100 GE Energy 1.5-MW wind turbines are expected to be producing power by the end of November. One of the landowners on whose property the wind farm is being built estimates that the turbines will only take about 1% of his pastureland out of commission, taking into account the service roads as well as the turbines themselves.
The Oregonian from Portland, Ore., reported that 12 ships and 650 trucks will have come through the Port of Vancouver’s docks by the end of August to deliver components of the Hopkins Ridge Wind Project to the site in Columbia, Wash. The first eight of the 83 Vestas 1.8-MW turbines under construction are expected to be operational by the end of September. RES America developed the project and Puget Sound Energy contracted for the power output. To transfer the massive parts from ships to trucks will create about 13,000 job-hours, according to one port official.
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