County Could Be Site Of Wind Farm
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Tim [email protected]
Sometimes gusting, sometimes just a slight breeze, but almost always it's there.
Now, an energy company and some local farmers want to find out if the wind on the northern side of the county has the qualities needed for them to cash in on a harvest of energy.[[In-content Ad]]Wednesday, the Kosciusko County Board of Zoning Appeals approved the construction of a test tower near Milford to test wind to determine if the strength, direction and consistency is enough to establish a wind farm in the area.
Jonathon Runyon, project coordinator for JW Great Lakes Wind LLC, said the 196-foot-tall meteorological test tower will be installed in early December. Runyon told the board his company will keep the tower up for period of one to two years. He said the tower will help the company determine if the area is a good place for a wind farm and, if so, what type of wind towers should be put in place to harvest the wind there.
The property where the test tower will be built is in Jefferson Township on the east side of CR 320W, about 4,000 feet south of CR 1250N. The property owners, Tony and Ruth Zimmerman, said the test tower represents a chance for increased revenue for their farm.
"We've been farming grain for years," Ruth Zimmerman said. "Now, we just want to farm wind and grain."
If a wind farm is established, Great Lakes Wind would lease agricultural land on which wind towers would be constructed. However, Runyon said, the property owners could continue to farm the land. He said, if the test is positive, the next step in the process of establishing a wind farm would be land acquisition. Runyon said his company is in the process of talking to between 70 and 80 local land owners about getting involved if the company decides to establish a wind farm.
Besides the quality of the wind, Runyon said other conditions in Kosciusko County are favorable to harvesting wind for energy. He said the abundant access to power transition utilities in the county to transport the collected power and the county's relative proximity to several major metropolitan areas, including Chicago and Indianapolis, could make Kosciusko County a prime location.
Benton County is the home of Indiana's only currently operating commercial wind farm. The county, near the boarder of Illinois, has 87 turbines generating power and more than 220 more set to begin operation next month.
Jim Bricker, Benton County Purdue Agricultural Extension educator, said the wind farms have been beneficial to his county. Bricker said 370 landowners have signed leases with two wind farm developments and the total lease payments from the energy companies to the land owners is more than $2 million per year. The energy companies have signed tax abatements, but offered the county supplemental payments until the abatements end. By 2018, Bricker said Benton County will be collecting almost $4 million in property taxes from the wind energy companies.
"It's been a tremendous relief for the landowners we have," Bricker said.
Bricker said Benton County is primarily agricultural and all the wind turbines are on farm land. He said the landowners who lease to the energy company continue to farm the land.
"When the project is completed," he said, "it only takes about 2 percent of that acre and the farmers can farm right up next to it."
Bricker said people from other parts of the state or country who come to visit his county's wind farms often ask him if the turbines kill birds, disturb wildlife or make too much noise.
"These are not the wind turbines of our grandfathers," he said. "These are not California turbines."
Bricker said advances in technology have meant that turbines spin at a rate of about 15 rotations per minute.
"They spin slow," he said. "This has virtually eliminated bird and bat kills."
Bricker said the new turbines aren't loud either. "You can go stand under one of those turbines in a 10 mph wind and not hear it because the wind across your ear is louder," he said.
The power collected in the Benton County farms isn't used locally. Runyon said, if a wind farm is established in Kosciusko County, the power will be sold to higher-priced markets like Chicago. Runyon said if a wind farm is built, the towers will be 325 feet or higher, with turbine blades about 200 feet long. He said one smaller-model turbine can power about 400 homes for a year.
For more information about Great Lakes Wind, visit www.juwi-international.com
Sometimes gusting, sometimes just a slight breeze, but almost always it's there.
Now, an energy company and some local farmers want to find out if the wind on the northern side of the county has the qualities needed for them to cash in on a harvest of energy.[[In-content Ad]]Wednesday, the Kosciusko County Board of Zoning Appeals approved the construction of a test tower near Milford to test wind to determine if the strength, direction and consistency is enough to establish a wind farm in the area.
Jonathon Runyon, project coordinator for JW Great Lakes Wind LLC, said the 196-foot-tall meteorological test tower will be installed in early December. Runyon told the board his company will keep the tower up for period of one to two years. He said the tower will help the company determine if the area is a good place for a wind farm and, if so, what type of wind towers should be put in place to harvest the wind there.
The property where the test tower will be built is in Jefferson Township on the east side of CR 320W, about 4,000 feet south of CR 1250N. The property owners, Tony and Ruth Zimmerman, said the test tower represents a chance for increased revenue for their farm.
"We've been farming grain for years," Ruth Zimmerman said. "Now, we just want to farm wind and grain."
If a wind farm is established, Great Lakes Wind would lease agricultural land on which wind towers would be constructed. However, Runyon said, the property owners could continue to farm the land. He said, if the test is positive, the next step in the process of establishing a wind farm would be land acquisition. Runyon said his company is in the process of talking to between 70 and 80 local land owners about getting involved if the company decides to establish a wind farm.
Besides the quality of the wind, Runyon said other conditions in Kosciusko County are favorable to harvesting wind for energy. He said the abundant access to power transition utilities in the county to transport the collected power and the county's relative proximity to several major metropolitan areas, including Chicago and Indianapolis, could make Kosciusko County a prime location.
Benton County is the home of Indiana's only currently operating commercial wind farm. The county, near the boarder of Illinois, has 87 turbines generating power and more than 220 more set to begin operation next month.
Jim Bricker, Benton County Purdue Agricultural Extension educator, said the wind farms have been beneficial to his county. Bricker said 370 landowners have signed leases with two wind farm developments and the total lease payments from the energy companies to the land owners is more than $2 million per year. The energy companies have signed tax abatements, but offered the county supplemental payments until the abatements end. By 2018, Bricker said Benton County will be collecting almost $4 million in property taxes from the wind energy companies.
"It's been a tremendous relief for the landowners we have," Bricker said.
Bricker said Benton County is primarily agricultural and all the wind turbines are on farm land. He said the landowners who lease to the energy company continue to farm the land.
"When the project is completed," he said, "it only takes about 2 percent of that acre and the farmers can farm right up next to it."
Bricker said people from other parts of the state or country who come to visit his county's wind farms often ask him if the turbines kill birds, disturb wildlife or make too much noise.
"These are not the wind turbines of our grandfathers," he said. "These are not California turbines."
Bricker said advances in technology have meant that turbines spin at a rate of about 15 rotations per minute.
"They spin slow," he said. "This has virtually eliminated bird and bat kills."
Bricker said the new turbines aren't loud either. "You can go stand under one of those turbines in a 10 mph wind and not hear it because the wind across your ear is louder," he said.
The power collected in the Benton County farms isn't used locally. Runyon said, if a wind farm is established in Kosciusko County, the power will be sold to higher-priced markets like Chicago. Runyon said if a wind farm is built, the towers will be 325 feet or higher, with turbine blades about 200 feet long. He said one smaller-model turbine can power about 400 homes for a year.
For more information about Great Lakes Wind, visit www.juwi-international.com
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