McLean County Wind Farm Will Add 250 Turbines to Local Landscape
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The wind is one of those intangible forces of nature that can help propel a sailboat‚ wreak havoc during a tornado or harness energy.
It is the latter idea that has people talking in McLean County.
More than 250 tall‚ windmill-like turbines will be constructed on private farm properties throughout the county in the next couple of years to channel wind energy. That energy will then be sold to power companies for use in consumer homes and businesses.
Arrowsmith Wind Farm is the name of the $500 million project that will be overseen by Zilkha Renewable Energy‚ a Houston-based company that has already developed wind farms in 12 states.
“Wind farms reduce dependence on fossil fuels and provide an emission-free source of renewable energy‚” says Bill Whitlock‚ Zilkha project development manager and a resident of Bloomington.
“Wind projects significantly help keep the skies blue and the water clean. In addition‚ companies can purchase power from wind farms at predictable long-term prices that don’t fluctuate with the cost of other fuels‚ such as natural gas.”
In February 2005‚ Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich called for 8 percent of the electricity sold in the state to come from renewable sources by 2012. McLean County was chosen for such an energy project because it is one of the windiest counties in Illinois.
“A couple of years ago‚ the state published maps showing wind velocity across Illinois‚ and eastern McLean County is one of four counties that have the highest consistent winds‚” says Mike Swartz‚ manager of the McLean County Farm Bureau.
“The county features a high piece of ground called the Bloomington Moraine that stretches from the northwest corner of Carlock‚ across Bloomington and through Holder‚ Ellsworth‚ Arrowsmith and Le Roy‚” he continues. “We’re just lucky that this topography will allow Zilkha to harness winds that can be turned into usable energy.”
Construction of Arrowsmith Wind Farm is anticipated to begin in 2006 or 2007‚ and will take six to eight months to complete. A total of 267 turbines will be spread over 21‚000 acres of land being leased from farm landowners‚ and the project is expected to only remove 150 to 200 acres from crop production.
Zilkha officials say McLean County already has easily accessible electrical transmission lines to transfer the wind energy to power companies‚ and utility companies from Chicago to St. Louis have expressed interest in purchasing the future energy.
As for the farm landowners‚ each will be paid approximately $5‚000 annually by Zilkha to have a wind turbine on their property.
The project should also create 200 to 250 construction jobs‚ and overall operation of the wind farm will require 20 to 25 employees with middle- to high-level technical job skills.
“Each windmill turbine will be more than 200 feet tall‚ and each will feature a 100-foot-tall spinning blade‚” Swartz says. “Upon completion‚ it will be one of the largest wind farms in the country‚ and is expected to meet the annual energy needs of about 120‚000 homes.”
Story by Kevin Litwin
Photo by Brian McCord
