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ROTTERDAM
Towns consider wind farm law
Proposal prompts discussion of regulation
BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter

    Wind farm projects may be some time away in Schenectady County, but planners in both Princetown and Rotterdam are considering regulations for them now.
    Officials from both municipalities are planning talks about potential regulations for wind energy development projects. The topic came up last month when Reunion Power, a Vermont-based project development service, proposed building a 197-foot temporary meteorological tower in Pattersonville.
    Company officials indicated the proposed tower would monitor wind at a 1,300-foot elevation near an existing cellular tower off Crawford Road. At its widest point, the tower would be 8 inches in diameter. It would relay wind data to the company via satellite connection, town officials said.
    Reunion executive Steve Eisenburg said the proposed monitoring station is only the first step in a very long process that may or may not yield a project. He said determining the level of wind in an area is a key elements before any project advances.
    “We’re just cracking this open to see if it’s feasible,” he said this week.
    Even if the Rotterdam Planning Board approves the test tower, Eisenburg said, Reunion wouldn’t build it until the spring. He said the company would then monitor data and trends at the site for at least a year before making a determination whether to proceed with any project.
    But the concept of a wind farm on the outskirts of town prompted Rotterdam officials to investigate a local law regulating these. And because the area proposed for the monitoring station is near the border with Princetown, Rotterdam officials invited those officials into the discussion.
    Wind tower regulations are also being explored in Duanesburg. Supervisor Rene Merrihew said the town will likely adopt regulations patterned after several towns in New York already contending with large wind farm proposals. She said the time seemed right, considering the town is already reviewing its comprehensive plan.
    “It’s a good time to get something on the books,” she said Thursday. “We’re in a rural area conducive to wind.”
    Though no formal wind farm is proposed in Schoharie County, Reunion Power is studying possible sites in the towns of Fulton, Jefferson and Richmondville. All three towns are in the process of developing ordinances to regulate commercial wind projects.
    Proposed regulations in Richmondville have been met with significant criticism; opponents argue the towers should be built thousands of feet away from residential areas. Reunion has suggested building 28 wind turbines on the Warnerville hills between Richmondville and Fulton.
    Reunion has already helped develop a pair of large wind farm projects in Minnesota and Iowa, according to the company’s Web site. The company operates 147 turbines in Lake Benton, Minn., which generate roughly 107 megawatts of energy; in Storm Lake, Iowa, Reunion generates about 80 megawatts at a farm with 107 turbines.
    In New York, the company is a partner in a project that would erect 10 wind turbines on Gore and Pete Gay mountains in Warren County. Reunion was also attempting a 24-turbine project in the town of Cherry Valley in Otsego County; setback rules imposed by the town effectively blocked the project as originally planned.
    Rotterdam Town Planner Pete Comenzo said commercial wind tower development brings with it issues including performance standards and setbacks. He said the only local ordinance now governing wind turbines is the town’s cellular tower law.
    This ordinance allows the development of towers in the town’s agricultural and industrial zones. Though there is no maximum size in the ordinance, towers cannot be located any closer to an adjacent property than the distance equal to the tower’s height.
    “It’s something that has come up recently and it’s certainly become a hot topic not only in the Capital Region, but in New York and the country as a whole,” he said.
Reach Gazette reporter
Justin Mason at 395-3113 or
jmason@dailygazette.net.

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The potential impacts from this initiative could make the Wal-mart supercenter thing pale by comparison.  

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The potential impacts from this initiative could make the Wal-mart supercenter thing pale by comparison.

Quoted from Michael

I'm a little surprised that no one had any comments on this topic.  This is an issue that should be watched carefully going forward.  The potential impacts from this initiative could make the Wal-mart supercenter thing pale by comparison.  

Development of appropriate performance standards and setbacks, as our Planner points out, are critical to proper regulation.

I am heartened to see coordination with surrounding communities being considered and it appears Duanesburg may be out in front already.

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Here's an idea for you Rene, start putting up windmills that double as cell phone towers!

Quoted from bumblethru

Not really Mike. At least it won't be brining in the 'undesirables' like Walmart!!

Hey, we have to try something for our energy since we don't want to be dependent on foreign oil. And look at it this way....at least it's not a nuclear reactor in our back yards.  

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GE, Horizon make wind turbine deal
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
By Jason Subik (Contact)
Gazette Reporter

ALBANY — Horizon Wind Energy LLC, a company that manages wind energy projects, opened its Northeast regional headquarters in Albany on Tuesday and announced a deal with GE Energy for future U.S. projects.
General Electric will sell 201 1.5-megawatt wind turbines to Horizon to be shipped in 2010. Under a separate two-year agreement, GE will provide operations support, parts and maintenance for those units. Company officials did not disclose the dollar value of the transaction.
“That is a big order. There are about 3,000 turbines a year that we produce. This is close to 10 percent of our annual production,” said Sean Fitzgerald, GE Energy product line leader for the 1.5 megawatt wind turbine.
GE’s new deal with Horizon Energy follows the October announcement of a global framework agreement between GE and Horizon’s parent company, Energias de Portugal, for the supply of 500 megawatts of wind turbines for 2008 and 2009 projects in the United States and Europe.
Horizon Wind Energy Northeast Regional Development Director Patrick Doyle said EDP manages wind energy projects outside of the United States while Horizon focuses solely on the U.S. domestic market. He said his company chose to locate in New York because it is the 15th most windy state and has a large population, energy needs and a friendly attitude toward clean energy.
“It’s also a large dairy farming state, and dairy farmers use their land to produce a renewable resource so they are very open to the idea of hosting a wind turbine or two or three,” Doyle said.
Horizon Energy is looking at five possible locations for new wind farms throughout New York state. Doyle said typically Horizon will come to an agreement with the owners of many adjacent land parcels to create large wind farms that span many acres. He said each wind turbine could mean $10,000 in annual lease revenue paid to land owners.
Horizon Energy’s Albany office has eight employees, most of whom are project managers, Doyle said.
Before a wind farm can be developed, Horizon officials must determine the likely long-term viability of the wind energy supply in a region, navigate local regulatory boards and build millions of dollars in electricity transmission infrastructure and equipment.
“In wind energy, the energy is inexpensive, but the process requires a lot of capital,” Doyle said.
Fitzgerald said the turbines sold to Horizon are manufactured and assembled at different GE plants around the world. He said all of the turbines GE makes will be monitored from the its Erie Boulevard campus in Schenectady.
In July, GE Energy announced a push to hire 150 new white-collar employees to staff the new wind energy product management and customer service center to support its Renewable Energy Global Headquarters in Schenectady.
“A lot of the senior leadership positions have been filled out. Those folks are in the process of hiring out their teams and building up their staff,” Fitzgerald said of the buildup.
Horizon Wind Energy Chief Executive Officer Antonio Martins da Costa said the proximity of Horizon’s Albany office, GE’s wind service center as well as GE Global Research in Niskayuna, where much wind turbine research and development occurs, reinforces the relationship between the two companies.
“We see strong potential for future wind projects throughout this region, and our new Albany office positions us to better serve this promising market,” da Costa said.
Renewable growth
On Jan. 14, General Electric Co.’s energy investment business, GE Energy Financial Services, announced it would increase its investment in renewable energy by 50 percent to $6 billion by 2010. The most active investment in renewable energy for GE Energy Financial Services is wind, representing about two-thirds of its portfolio, according to company officials. GE Energy Financial Services has invested in Horizon wind farms in Illinois, Minnesota, Oregon and Texas.
The four wind farms will annually produce enough electricity to power more than 180,200 average homes in the United States and will avoid nearly 1.4 million tons a year in greenhouse gas emissions, compared with equivalent fossil fuel generation, GE Energy Financial Services said.
GE Energy Financial Services has invested or committed to invest equity in 85 wind farms and increased its global wind equity holdings to more than 3,600 megawatts of generating capacity.

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Horizon Wind Energy LLC plans on buying 201 wind turbines from GE Energy. The turbines are scheduled to be shipped in 2010.

Horizon officials declined to detail where the 1.5 megawatt turbines would be installed or the value of the deal.

"It's significant for us. This is a large volume order," said Sean Fitzgerald, GE Energy's product line leader. He said GE sells about 3,000 of the wind turbines a year.

Horizon is receiving a $300 million equity investment from GE Energy Financial Services in four of its wind farms located in Oregon, Minnesota, Illinois and Texas. GE Energy has a plant in Schenectady, but these turbines will be made in plants in such places as South Carolina, Florida, California, Germany, Spain and China.

Horizon, based in Houston, Texas, has several New York projects, including the Maple Ridge Wind Farm in Lewis County and the Madison Wind Farm in Madison County. The company has invested a combined $500 million in both projects.

Horizon also announced on Tuesday that it has expanded into a larger office in downtown Albany, N.Y. The company has seven employees in its northeast regional office in Albany.

The company's Albany office had $80 million in revenue last year, said Patrick Doyle, Horizon's development director. Doyle sees that increasing to $100 million by 2009.

"This really is a center of many things for New York state," said Doyle, explaining why it located an office in Albany despite having no wind projects here.

Doyle pointed to the energy-related entities such as New York Independent System Operator, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the Public Service Commission that have a presence here. The NYISO runs New York's grid, NYSERDA invests in alternative energy programs and the Public Service Commission regulates the state's electric, gas, steam, telecommunications, and water utilities.

Doyle said Albany was centrally located, since Horizon has projects in Maine, Pennsylvania and North Carolina.

Horizon is a subsidiary of Energias de Portugal S.A. (EDP), a Portuguese utility.

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ROTTERDAM
Temporary tower gets town approval Wind-energy company will be permitted to have structure in spot for up to 3 years
BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter

    Town planning officials approved a wind-energy company’s plans for a meteorological testing tower in Pattersonville on Tuesday, but stressed that the structure will not be permanent.
    Planning commission members approved a 197-foot tower near an existing cellular tower off Crawford Road. The developer, the Vermont-based Reunion Power, will be permitted to test at the 1,300-foot elevations for up to three years, after which time they will be required to remove the structure.
    “It’s a temporary tower,” Chairman Lawrence DiLallo said. The commission approval is the final needed for the special use permit.
    The developers were also asked to place reflectors on any support cables for the tower, which will be 8 inches in diameter. DiLallo said pieces of the tower will be carried onto the site, meaning the structure will not require a road, and it is shorter than 200 feet, so the company won’t need to illuminate it for air safety.
    Only one resident living near the proposed testing site voiced concerns over the idea of wind power developments in high-elevation areas of the town. DiLallo said the tower is only for testing purposes and does not necessarily mean the company will try to develop a project.
    Meanwhile, town officials from both Rotterdam and Princetown have discussed drawing up a wind ordinance. Rotterdam planner Peter Comenzo said the towns share similar high elevation areas, meaning they both have potential for future wind power projects.
    “The towns are going to work cooperatively on it,” he said following the meeting. “Both towns want to be proactive on this.”

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ROTTERDAM
Wind turbine planned at GE plant
BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter

    General Electric Co. plans to build a 300-foot-tall wind turbine on its property in Rotterdam to power parts of the plant by 2009.
    County Legislator Angelo Santabarbara said GE announced the project during a meeting with local and county government officials Friday afternoon in Schenectady. The proposed tower would be roughly a football field tall, similar to one the company erected last year at Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort in Massachusetts, and would generate 1.5 megawatts.
    “It’s going to be the first of its kind in the area,” Santabarbara said. “It’s going to be a showpiece.”
    GE Spokeswoman Dan Nelson confirmed the plans Friday. He said the turbine would be nearly identical to the one built at Jiminy Peak and would be used to power the company’s Renewables Global Headquarters, among other buildings at the plant.
    “We plan to submit the permits later this summer and hope to have it installed by summer 2009,” he said.
    Nelson said GE has conducted tests and determined there is sufficient wind. He was unsure how much the project would cost.
    Worries about carbon emissions linked to global warming has spurred an expansion of GE’s wind turbine business. In November, the company announced a $39 million expansion of its Renewables Global Headquarters in Schenectady, a move that is anticipated to bring nearly 650 additional jobs to the plant in coming years.
    GE has already announced three major contracts to build wind turbines, including $2 billion worth of projects for the Chicago-based Invenergy LLC and $700 million for the Texasbased Renewable Energy Systems Americas Inc.
    Jiminy Peak’s turbine came online last August and cost about $3.9 million, according to a news release issued by the ski resort last year. Dubbed “the Zephyr” by the resort, the 253-foot-tall tower has three 123-foot-long blades and produces 4.6 million kilowatt hours of energy per year – about 33 percent of the total electricity consumption of the resort.
    The tower made Jiminy Peak the first mountain resort in North America to generate its own power. Resort offi cials expect the harnessing of wind power coupled with energy conservation will reduce the resort’s energy costs by nearly 50 percent in the first year.
    GE’s project announcement comes at a time when several Schenectady County towns are considering wind turbine ordinances. Officials in the towns of Rotterdam and Princetown are drafting regulations guiding the development of wind projects.
    Santabarbara, who is also the chairman of Rotterdam’s Industrial Development Agency, said the project would face several approvals from the town. He said officials from the town and the Rotterdam IDA are looking forward to developing the project with GE.
    Likewise, Rotterdam Supervisor Steve Tommasone said he supports GE’s effort to expand in the county and is eager to hear more about the project.
    “That’s fantastic news,” he said. “I’m very supportive of anything we can do to bring those types of projects to our community.”

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ROTTERDAM GE'S WIND TURBINE PLANS MOVE FORWARD

Posted on: 05/29/08
Ross Marvin, Spotlight Staff
email: marvinr@spotlightnews.com

Rotterdam IDA Chairman Angelo Santabarbara said plans for General Electric Co. to build a 300-foot-tall wind turbine that could generate up to 1.5 megawatts of power for the company’s plant are moving forward.

GE spokeswoman Jan Smith confirmed plans to build the tower. She said the tower could be used to power the company’s Renewables Global Headquarters, as well as other projects at the plant.

“There’s a fast-growing U.S. market for wind power,” said Smith. “This project is a great sign since it is located at the headquarters for Renewables.”

Santabarbara, who learned of the project in late April, said that Rotterdam should continue to embrace green projects. He cites the SI Group’s biomass boiler project as another flagship initiative that retains jobs in Rotterdam.

“This would be the only tower like it in the region,” said Santabarbara.

Santabarbara said the tower could power parts of the plant by 2009. Santabarbara said GE officials already tested the area to see if it was capable of producing the necessary power. Tests proved there is sufficient wind in the area.

Santabarbara said the GE project would be subject to several town permits.
The tower plan follows proposals by other wind farm developers, which are currently in front of planning commissions in the towns of Princetown and Rotterdam.

Vermont-based Reunion Power received final site plan approval from the Rotterdam Planning Commission in February to install a 197-foot, temporary meteorological tower off Crawford Road.

Jim Mirenda, development manager for Reunion, said the temporary tower would measure wind speed to determine the feasibility of turbine instillation.

While no wind towers currently stand in Rotterdam, an identical tower to the one proposed by GE was installed last year at Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort in Massachusetts.

The $3.9 million tower, called the “Zephyr,” stands 253 feet and is equipped with three 123-foot blades, according to the resort’s Web site.

The turbine produces nearly one-third of the resort’s power with 50 to 60 percent of its production capabilities coming in Jiminy Peak’s busy winter skiing months.

Officials are unsure how much the Rotterdam project will cost, but the tower ties in with November’s expansion of GE’s wind turbine business.

The $39 million expansion of its Renewables Global Headquarters is anticipated to bring about 750 high paying jobs to the region within a few years.

According to Smith, GE has been increasing its sales of wind turbines nationwide. Earlier this month, the company completed a giant $2 billion sale of 667 wind turbines to oil billionaire T. Boone Pickens, owner of Texas-based Mesa LLP.

“He plans to build the world’s largest wind farm in the Texas Panhandle,” said Smith.