Big Sky looks at February for completion date
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| Rep. Bill Foster (from left) tours the Big Sky wind farm Monday, accompanied by various project and union officials, including Blake Connolly, Edison Mission O&M project manager, and Charles Laskonis, Local 364 business agent. (BCR photo/Barb Kromphardt) |
OHIO — Rep. Bill Foster toured the Big Sky wind farm project currently under construction Monday, and Congress’ only scientist kept Big Sky officials on their toes.
“You’re the only one in Congress who could figure out what size wrench this would take,” said Charley Parnell, spokesman for the Edison Mission Group, which is developing the project.
Big Sky is a $525 million, 240 megawatt project, with 114 turbines spread over Bureau and Lee counties. The project is estimated to deliver $30 million in tax revenue during its 20-year life and an additional $20 million in lease payments to landowners.
A variety of Big Sky officials answered a number of questions about all phases of the project.
Regarding the decommissioning process, Joe Walter, the site manager of the construction phase, said the agreement includes the removal of everything above ground, but the deep concrete pads will remain below the soil.
Walter explained how the project was supposed to be up and running in 2008, but then the Suzlon Wind Energy Corporation, which was supposed to provide the turbines, began to have problems with breaking blades, including one near Buda.
The problem has now been fixed, but Walter said it added an extra 18 to 24 months to the time line.
The $525 million cost works out to roughly $12 million per turbine. For the 240 megawatts produced, that works out to about $2 per watt, as compared to $7 per watt, Foster said.
Walter said the landowners receive about $8,300 annually for the use of about 1,600 square feet of their land.
Regarding jobs, Walter said the company contracted with White Construction to build the project. There are 300 craftsmen on site, and they have put in 300,000 man-hours to date. When the project is completed, there should be 25 permanent employees.
Turning to environmental issues, the company got all its required permits from the Environmental Protection Organization, but Parnell said that as wind power grew in Illinois, there is now pressure about some newly-protected species.
Walter said there is an environmentalist on site. There have been no issues with excessive bird or bat deaths, and Walter said that after the project is completed, there will be a study on its impact on one bird, the golden plover.
Walter also discussed drainage tiles. He said the company repairs a tile when it is broken, and they have repaired about 600 tiles to date, including old ceramic tiles that date back to the 1940s and 1950s.
Foster asked about local support, and Walter said it was widespread, with the exception of a lawsuit filed by landowner Larry Gerdes on June 3.
After first meeting at the construction headquarters just north of Ohio, the tour continued on to some turbines in various stages of construction.
Walter discussed the agreement with the access roads and roadways. He showed how some intersections have been temporarily enlarged to allow for the large equipment, but said they would be returned to their previous dimensions at the end of the project.
The roads are being maintained during the project, and Walter said funds have been allocated to return them all to their original state at the end of the project.
Walter said the project is 60-65 percent completed, and there are currently 12 turbines generating electricity. Eighty turbines are yet to be erected, which he hopes to have done by December. The turbines should be commissioned and in operation by February 2011.
“It’s been a long haul,” Parnell said.
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