Public weighs in on wind farm

Talk about it

WORTHINGTON — More than 30 people attended an informational meeting Thursday afternoon on the proposed Nobles Wind Project to be constructed in Olney, Dewald, Larkin and Summit Lake townships beginning in the spring of 2010.

The meeting was the first of two planned Thursday at the Reading Community Center, and was meant to give the public an update on the permitting process and to ask questions.

The Nobles Wind Project will include 134, 1.5-megawatt GE wind turbines, for a total capacity of 201 megawatts. The towers will stand 389 feet tall, including the blade. Land acquisition is nearly complete for the location of the towers, with enXco, the project developer, anticipated to finish the process within the next few weeks.

Ian Krygowski, regional project development manager for enXco and manager of the Nobles Wind Project, said work on the project began about 10 years ago. Based at the company’s regional office in Minneapolis, Krygowski said enXco has been in the wind energy business for more than 20 years, first as an operator and maintainer of turbines. With headquarters in Escondido, Calif., the company has had a presence in Minnesota since 1997.

Krygowski said approximately 15 people will be employed on the Nobles Wind Project. It is similar to the Fenton Wind Farm that was completed in 2007 in Murray County and northern Nobles County.

Larry Hartman, a project manager for Minnesota’s Office of Energy Security, answered questions from the public Thursday, including issues about setback requirements from roads and residences and shadow flicker.

The state standard for setback from a residence is 500 feet, but Nobles County’s ordinance states towers must be 750 feet from a residence. Krygowski said the all of the towers sited for the wind farm will be at least 1,200 feet from a residence.

As for shadow flicker, Hartman said, “To some people it’s an issue, to a lot of people it’s ‘So what.’ I have not yet had a complaint in Minnesota about shadow flicker.”

One landowner who will have five turbines erected on his property was concerned about reimbursement for crop damage this year because of vehicles driving onto the property to do survey work. Krygowski said reimbursements will be made in the next several weeks, and the plan is to reimburse crop farmers for damage done to their land during the construction process in 2010.

Switching station site approved

On Wednesday night, the Nobles County Planning and Zoning Commission approved a conditional use permit for enXco to construct a switching station and maintenance facility on Xcel Energy-owned land in the northeast quarter of Section 23, Summit Lake Township. The one condition placed on the permit is that a hedge row and two rows of trees be planted around the perimeter of the site.

The permit will now go before the county’s board of commissioners at 9 a.m. Tuesday for final approval.

A second request by enXco for approval of an alternate site in the north half of the southeast quarter of Section 23, Summit Lake Township was tabled.

The alternate site request was made because enXco has yet to work out the details of building the project on Xcel’s land, according to Krygowski. He said the issue was hoped to be resolved within the next two to three weeks.

Alan Madison, one of the landowners in the neighborhood of the proposed site, was the only individual to speak up during the public hearing portion of Wednesday’s meeting. He cited concerns about the “extremely loud hum” that comes from the substation, and wondered if the enXco project would also emit a lot of noise.

Planting trees around the perimeter should reduce the potential for noise, causing P&Z commissioners to make it one of the conditions of the permit.

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