Despite the strictest ordinance the company has operated under, a wind turbine project under development by AES Wind Energy will move forward.
Evie Sorrell, AES Developer, addressed the Burlington Rotary Club Monday about the project that will place around 40-45 wind turbines with a height of 650 feet in the northwest corner of Des Moines County. The project size is 140 megawatts (MW), which is enough electricity to provide power to 45,000 homes.
One of the concerns is that the height of the turbines at 650 feet is too tall. Sorrell said the height produces more electricity per turbine than lower heights and translates to the need for fewer turbines in one concentrated area.
That electricity may not stay local however. Sorrell said the electricity would be sold through a power purchase agreement, and the physical flow of electricity would follow the grid.
Sorrell said the county’s commercial wind energy, solar and battery storage facility ordinance that governs the siting (location), and operation of wind turbines is the most restrictive ordinance the company has encountered, but plans are moving ahead with the project.
Read the rest of the story in the Thursday, June 4 edition of The Hawk Eye.
