Wild Meadows Wind Power Project October 24, 2012 Danbury Board of Selectmen
Summary Iberdrola Renewables/Wild Meadows Wind How Wind Power Works Wind Power in U.S. Summary Wild Meadows Wind Farm Status Studies and Surveys Completed/Planned NH Site Evaluation Committee Process Next Steps 2
Iberdrola Renewables Largest Wind Power Company Largest Renewable Energy Company Wind, Solar, Hydro, Biomass Over 50 Wind Farms operating in United States (5,000 MWs) Completed New Hampshire s 1 st Commercial Wind Farm, (Lempster, 2008) Groton Wind Farm under construction (completion 2012) Iberdrola develops, constructs, owns, and operates its wind farms 3
How Wind Power Works
Typical Wind Turbine-Gamesa G97 97 m diameter 159 454 The taller the tower, the better the wind speeds 295 5
The Modern Wind Turbine 1 Nacelle 2 Generator 3 Gearbox 4 Main Shaft 5 Rotor / Hub 6 Blades 7 Tower 8 Brake 6
Modern Wind Turbine Blades Rotor contains a three-blade assembly Blades are 139 to 165 feet in length Developed for performance at low wind speeds Cut-in: 5 mph Cut-out: 55 mph 12 to 19 Revolutions Per Minute 7
Wind Power in the US
Wind Power in the US Wind power is the fastest t growing energy source in the world US Wind Power U.S. DOE: wind power can provide 20%+ of all U.S. electricity Over 50,000 000 MW, or power for nearly 14 million US homes 35% of all new electrical generating capacity over past 5 years Eliminates: 132 M tons carbon emissions (21 M cars) Jobs: 470 factories and parts suppliers; 85,000 US Wind Power Jobs Benefits 0 Air Emissions, 0 GHG No Use of Cooling Water No Discharges of Water Offsets and assists in retirement of older fossil-fuel fuel power plants 9
Sustainability Harvesting Wind is 100% Renewable no resources depleted Uses Local Resources Allows Landowners to Get Payments/Pay Taxes Without Subdividing Without Developing Does Impact Portions of Land Access Roads Clearings Allows Multiple Uses 10
Compatibility Hull, MA Lempster, NH 11
Wind Power & Conservation Keep Land with Landowners Allows for on-going, current use designation except for very small portions Allows for continued uses Timber management Agriculture Recreation Conservation Easements Supported at both Lempster and Groton wind farms 12
Lempster and Groton Wind Power Projects 13
Economic Benefits Local Revenue Lempster: Major Tax Revenue Source without Demand on Local Services Groton: equivalent to 100% of municipal budget Construction mostly NH companies Lempster (24 MW; 12 turbines) Over 150 Construction Jobs nearly all construction done by New England companies and workers 3 full-time operations jobs Groton (48 MW; 24 turbines) Max at 305 construction jobs (65% NH labor) 5 full-time operations jobs State taxes Utility Property Tax Business Enterprise Tax Business Profits Tax 14
Case Study: Lempster Onnela Family Parcels 1,040 ac. leased <41 ac. for wind farm, including buffers, roads Allowed Onnela family to retain ownership and avoid subdividing Allows for continued hunting use All but 41 ac. remains in current use 15
Wild Meadows Wind Power Project 16
Project Area
Why Danbury (Alexandria, Grafton)? Excellent wind resources Compatible with existing sustainable forestry and conservation Existing log roads and clearings Location Landowners Local support Iberdrola Renewables NH experience and track record 18
Status On-Site Total of 7 met towers across site (data since 2009) Studies/Permits completed Preliminary engineering and road study Wetlands surveys completed Property surveys Digital topographic mapping FAA permits Avian radar surveys and bat surveys Breeding bird surveys Raptor migration survey Visual surveys and simulations 19 Sound modeling
Ongoing Efforts Studies Underway Electrical Interconnection (with National Grid via ISO-NE [Independent System Operator New England]) Engineering i Consultation and study of cultural/historical Schedule NH SEC application late 2012/early 2013 AoT permit application Joint wetlands permit application (DES/USACE) 20
Benefits Economic Construction services, labor, materials. Est. 350+ construction personnel. 5-6 permanent operations jobs Payments to local l landowners Payments to Town of Danbury LUCT, Timber Tax New revenues for the town without needs for services Green power for the area, New Hampshire Uses local l 100% renewable resources with 0 pollution Allows Multiple Uses forestry, recreation, conservation Tourism 21
Conservation Worked with SPNHF on Lempster and Groton Wind Farms to support conservation easements for portions of land. Groton Wind landowner Green Acre Woodlands to have Conservation Easement with Society For Protection of NH Forests Working with NH DES, US EPA, and Army Corps on mitigation 22
Coordination (so far) Grafton County Economic Development Council 1 st District Executive Councilor Ray Burton State and Federal agencies Plymouth State University Towns of Alexandria and Grafton NH and other New England companies are supporting Civil engineering and design (Horizons Engineering, Littleton, NH) Avian surveys (Audubon New Hampshire; Stantec, Brunswick, ME) Wetlands surveys (Normandeau, Bedford, NH) Sound analysis (Epsilon, Maynard, MA) Cultural/historical surveys (VHB, Bedford, NH; and LBG, Albany, NY) Surveys (Eckman, New London, NH) 23
Permitting New Hampshire Site Evaluation Committee (SEC) State board with representatives from all key agencies Integrated permitting process for AoT, Wetlands Bureau, SEC Certificate Legislature determined that siting of electric generating plants be treated as a significant aspect of land-use planning in which all environmental, economic and technical issues are resolved in an integrated fashion. N.H. RSA 162-H:1, II. Legislature established the SEC process for the planning, siting and construction of such facilities. This process takes the place of individual state and local permits that would be required in the absence of RSA 162-H. 24
SEC Process Application filing, including: Engineering permit application (Alteration of Terrain) Wetlands permit application i (NH Wetlands Bureau) Exhibits and data on: Technical, management, schedule, environmental surveys: sufficient information to satisfy the application requirements of each state agency having jurisdiction Prefiled testimony of experts 25
SEC Process (continued) SEC usually holds public hearings in Concord SEC holds at least 1 public hearing in Grafton County Groton Wind provides information about the proposed project and takes questions from members of the public. Usually the subcommittee will take a tour of the site around the time that it holds this public hearing. Entire SEC process: approximately 10 months 26
Next Steps Open House Nov. 15 th 600 6:00 830PM 8:30 Bus Tour to Lempster Wind Farm Saturday November 17 th 8:00 AM bus leaves from Danbury (Rt. 4 and 104) Return by 12:00 Wind Farm Agreement PILOT/payments Agreement File SEC Application 27
Wind Power Information awea.org American Wind Energy Association www1.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/ U.S. DOE Energy Efficiency i and Renewable Energy nrel.gov/wind/ National Renewable Energy Laboratory iberdrolarenewables.us/ Iberdrola Renewables iberdrolarenewables.us/b2c-cs_lempster.html lempster Lempster Wind website iberdrolarenewables.us/groton.html - Groton Wind website 28
Edward Cherian Iberdrola Renewables P.O. Box 326, Concord, NH 03302 603.440.3127 3127 echerian@iberdrolaren.com