Invenergy Announces Plans for Second Wind Farm in Gratiot County
If Gratiot County does not become the wind farm capital of the area, it won’t be for a lack of wind farms.
Invenergy, which has already begun work on its wind farm in Wheeler and Bethany townships, along with north sections of Emerson and Lafayette townships, has announced plans to build a second wind farm.
From 125 to 133 more turbines are now being planned for Lafayette, Emerson, North Star, Newark and Hamilton townships, said Invenergy’s spokesman and project development manager Kevin Parzyck.
Invenergy’s second wind farm is not to be confused with another company’s plans for its wind farms in roughly the same area.
Beebe Community Wind Farm, which is partnered with Nordex, is also planning a wind farm in Emerson, Lafayette, Hamilton and North Star townships too.
Parzyck said it’s possible that some of these wind farms could overlap in the township areas, but he’s not sure where that might occur.
“(Invenergy’s wind farm) is continued (from the first wind farm),” he said. “We are working our way south to North Star (where the transmission line is located.)”
A third company’s windfarm – or fourth depending on how they are counted – called Trade Energy has been put on hold for the time being. It would be located in the southwestern section of the county.
With its announcement on Monday, Invenergy is doubling the size of its farm. Its first wind farm alone, could provide enough energy to power up to 50,000 homes.
Invenergy is the first of the companies to sign a contract to sell its energy to Detroit Edison for the first wind farm. Energy produced from its second proposed farm has not yet been sold, Parzyck said.
“We are completing ongoing requests for proposals (from the energy companies,” Parzyck said.
Beebe, on the other had, is a bit behind Invenergy in the process, and has scheduled a special use permit hearing soon, Greater Gratiot Development President Don Schurr said.
For its first wind farm, Parzyck said he expects the turbines to be delivered in July, installed in the fall and operational in the winter.
Part two of its project, or the second wind farm, will like Beebe, take more time.
“It will take a year or two to implement Phase Two,” Parzyck said. ““We’re not going to start the project until it’s sold.”
Invenergy is now working with landowners for the rights to install the turbines.
Parzyck said, as he has in the past, that the wind farms would not have happened without the cooperation of the county’s leaders and Schurr.
In order to help the companies and smooth their way in the process, a county wide master plan was developed, one of the first of its kind.
And, Parzyck noted, what happens in Gratiot County, stays in Gratiot.
“I always say you can import coal from West Virginia and the money goes there, or you can have wind power in Gratiot County and that money stays there,” Parzyck said.,
Invenergy has established an office at 228 East Saginaw Street in Breckenridge and anyone can stop in if they have questions, he said.
For his part, Schurr said he already has learned of some people looking for housing in the area. They are expected to work on the construction phase.
“These (turbines) require no public service at all,” Schurr said. “There are not a lot of jobs (once construction is complete) but they are good ones. And it’s certainly good tax revenue.”
Once Invenergy’s first wind farm is completed, it will be the largest in the state.