Next Era Energy hosted a stakeholders dinner meeting Thursday, Jan. 13, in Beaver Creek to update landowners, organizations and government leaders about the Walleye Wind Farm construction in western Rock County this year.
Project developer Mike Weich reviewed the project timeline for nearly 100 people at SpringBrooke Events in Beaver Creek Thursday.
The projected $150 million investment will be built, owned and operated by NextEra, which has a 30-year purchase agreement to provide 111 megawatts of electricity annually for Minnesota Municipal Power.
Next Era plans to build up to 40 wind turbines on a 49-square-mile (31,000 acres) footprint.
Blattner Energy of Avon, Minnesota, is the general contractor for the 40 turbines, which will be 2.32 or 2.82 megawatts each.
“They’ll slowly start bringing representatives into the community in March,” Weich said. “They start to engage with county leaders and introduce construction managers, so we have a clear sense of who the points of contact are.”
Roads first
Weich said that the rural neighborhoods of the project footprint will start seeing construction activity in April when access roads are staked and townships are fortified for heavy equipment.
“We make sure that roads are improved to the standard required for our construction activities,” Weich said.
“If we need turning lanes installed for some of our construction equipment to make wide turns, we do that, along with shoulder improvements.”
Fields that are staked this spring for access roads will likely not be planted this spring in the affected areas.
NextEra will build up and maintain townships’ roads used for construction, and they’ll be returned to townships when construction ends.
There is a process of “accepting back” the affected roads and properties in what is considered acceptable conditions.
Disturbed areas will be restored and reclaimed with attention to erosion control, debris removed and temporary facilities dismantled.
Laydown yard is ‘command station’
Parallel to road work will be the process of setting up the laydown yard directly adjacent to where the Rock County substation is now.
It will serve as the central command station and product yard where all of the equipment will be.
“We’ll have a trailer on site at the laydown yard where our construction team will be available every day,” Weich said.
“That’s where we will communicate our ‘daily sync’ to make sure everyone’s in sync with what’s going on.”
He said local leaders and county officials are welcome to attend those.
Also during the roads and laydown yard work, the existing wind towers near Beaver Creek will be “decommissioned.”
The existing (nonfunctioning) MinWind turbines will come down sometime in May, and the fiberglass blades will be recycled.
“A truck shows up on site when the blades come down, and the blades are chopped into thirds and transported to permitted facilities in Mason City, Iowa, or the Twin Cities to recycle them,” Weich said.
“They’ll be chopped down into pellets that get used for concrete or other types of manufacturing.”
Turbine construction is quickest part of project
Actual turbine construction won’t begin until closer to June.
“You guys won’t even see the main equipment for the turbine assembly until pretty close to when we’re actually ready to install them,” he said. “It’s like Lego sets … we bring the pieces in pretty quickly.”
He said the hardest part is placing the final pieces at the top — the motor and the blades, and a calm day, with no wind (ironically) to assemble the final pieces.
“If we get some lower windy days, we can put up a lot of blades at one time,” Weich said. “
Multiple turbine sites will be under construction simultaneously to allow for flexibility in supplies and workers.
Turbine foundations will require excavating a hole approximately 10 ft. deep and approximately 50 ft. in diameter
Economic opportunity
Once construction begins, more than 200 workers are expected on site, creating opportunities for local businesses.
“At some points in the construction process we might have 100 or less and other times we’ll have over 200, depending where we’re at in the process,” Weich said. “That’s what you can expect for people coming into your community starting in April.”
Luverne Area Chamber Director Jane Wildung Lanphere attended the meeting Thursday.
“This may be a great opportunity for your business to adjust your operation to meet their needs,” she wrote in a message to local businesses Monday.
“Please reach out to me if you have services or skills to offer these visiting workers. The Chamber pledges to try its best to help you benefit from this great opportunity and give these workers a wonderful experience in Rock County.”
The Chamber phone number is 507-283-4061.
In addition to the temporary economic boost from laborers on site, the wind farm, once operational, will generate $400,000 to $600,000 in annual tax revenues to Rock County.
In September the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission approved the project for site construction and certificate of need for the electricity.
“We proved that there was a need for the project, and showed that it’s consistent with the state’s goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and that it’s environmentally responsible,” Weich said.
“We did a lot of studies, avian studies … We studied every butterfly, every beetle and everything running around in Rock County to make sure that we were designing a site that wouldn’t inhibit anything environmentally.”
Celebration planned
Though construction will technically begin in April, NextEra will host a groundbreaking ceremony later in the spring to celebrate the project’s start.
“This will be an exciting event for the community to celebrate,” Weich said.
Construction is expected to be completed and operational by the end of October.
“The significance of that is it gives us the opportunity to do some reclamation activities — with roads and properties — before the snow starts. … We don’t leave until everything is done.”
He said there will be future opportunities for communication as construction dates approach.
For example, land agents will coordinate with landowners about when underground transmission lines are dug, likely toward the end of the project. Farmers will be compensated if crops are destroyed.
Learn more at: www.WalleyeWind.com, Facebook.com/WalleyeWind, or contact Mike Weich, 561-694-3987 or Mike.Weich@nexteraenergy.com