The Skookumchuck Wind Energy project continues to move forward, although the parameters have changed again, with all of the 38 turbines located in Lewis County as part of updated plans.
Sean Bell, senior development manager of RES Americas, provided a brief update to the Board of Lewis County Commissioners on Monday.
Once completed, the wind turbines are expected to produce 136.9 megawatts of renewable energy. Once it is developed, it will be sold to Puget Sound Energy, Bell said.
The turbines are “wholly located in Lewis County at this point,” Bell said.
The energy-generating windmills will be on Weyerhaeuser property located approximately 15 miles southeast of the Centralia TransAlta plant near the Lewis-Thurston county line, Bell said.
In October, Lewis County commissioners approved a memorandum of understanding that laid out the roles of each agency involved in the project and designated Thurston County as the lead agency for the State Environmental Policy Act process.
Originally split into two counties, significant concerns presented by some removed the turbines that were earmarked for Thurston County. Bell said RES Americas will now be working with Lewis County. An environmental impact statement is in progress, but Bell said he didn’t believe a determination had yet been made. LINK
July 05, 2017 Proposed wind farms threatening to pull out of NC if moratorium becomes law
The other project, the Little Alligator wind farm, would erect 29 turbine towers in Tyrrell County, North Carolina – all on land owned by timber producer Weyerhaeuser. The developer, British energy firm Renewable Energy Systems, or RES, is now reconsidering its commitment to the $200 million energy project.
The moratorium measure “has sent a strong and broad message that the State is not favorable for wind energy investment,” RES said in an emailed statement. “It raises serious questions that must be clarified about the Legislature’s long term intention, before development investments can continue.”
As part of its military review, RES has an agreement with the Department of Defense and the Air Force to shut off Little Alligator’s turbines for up to 380 hours a year if the spinning blades cause interference with low-altitude fighter-pilot training runs from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base.
The turbines in the Timbermill and Little Alligator projects would be among the tallest in the United States. Little Alligator’s blade tips could reach as high as 660 feet into the sky.
Other Forest Timber land Wind
Save The Huron Mountains 