County officials hear wind farm update

Van Wert independent

The Van Wert County Board of Commissioners met with Roger Brown of BP Wind and several township trustees on Tuesday so that Brown could report on a proposed wind farm in the southern portion of the county.

Brown said his company planned to build a 200-megawatt wind farm, mostly centered in York and Liberty townships, and would be applying to the Ohio Power Siting Board before the end of the year. He also noted that BP Wind was planning to build approximately 87 2.3-megawatt turbines as part of the project.

Brown also reported that BP Wind is continuing to lease land in the county, even though it has enough land currently to build the 87 wind turbines, noting that a second phase of wind turbines could be built down the road.

“We haven’t for any additional transmission studies,” Brown said, “but we’ve done our own (study) in-house to know that we think we’re okay.”

Brown added that plans currently call the for the wind farm, to be called the Prairie Creek Wind Farm, to be constructed in 2014. Each wind turbine built could generate up to $9,000 per megawatt, which would be paid to the county, with other subdivisions, such as townships and schools, also receiving a portion of the money.

Also on Tuesday, the commissioners opened bids for asphalt concrete and emulsions for County Engineer Kyle Wendel’s office.

The bids will now be evaluated, with recommendations later made on which bids, if any, to accept.