North Country wind farms repowered as NY commits to renewable energy - North Country Public Radio

North Country wind farms repowered as NY commits to renewable energy | NCPR News

North Country wind farms repowered as NY commits to renewable energy
Amy Feiereisel (Community Engagement Reporter)

If you’ve spent much time driving on Route 11, between Malone and Plattsburgh, you’ve seen the wind turbines. There are four wind farms in the area, in the towns of Altona, Chateaugay, Clinton, and Ellenburg.

Last week, all four of those projects were 'repowered', when New York announced the largest state investment in renewable energy in US History.

NYSERDA, the New York Energy and Research Development Authority, awarded 25 renewable energy project contracts to wind and solar farms. Once completed, those projects will provide about 12% of New York’s electricity needs.

The four wind farms in the North Country will contribute 400 megawatts of energy to the state power grid once they're repowered. But to do that, they need a bit of a facelift, says Emily Taylor, from AES Clean Energy, which is the largest owner-operator of renewable energy projects in New York.

AES was awarded project contracts for ten renewable energy projects in the state.

- Altona wind, Clinton County, 97.5 MW
- Bliss wind, Wyoming County, 100.5 MW
- Chateaugay wind, Franklin County, 106.5 MW
- Clinton wind, Clinton County, 100.5 MW
- Ellenburg wind, Clinton County, 81 MW
- Wethersfield wind, Wyoming County, 126 MW
- Hemlock Ridge solar, Orleans County, 200 MW
- Riverside solar, Jefferson County, 100 MW
- Somerset solar, Niagra County, 125 MW
- White Creek solar, Livingston County, 135 MW

"The wind industry is starting to get more mature," said Taylor. "So there's plenty of projects out there that are reaching the end of their useful life."

Taylor is overseeing the development and repowering of the windfarms in Clinton and Franklin counties for AES. She says those projects "all came online in about the 2008 - 2009 timespan, so they're approaching a 20 year life."

And that means the wind turbines need replacing soon. Taylor said the new NYSERDA contracts mean AES can move forward with replacing turbines, because the state has committed to buying the energy that comes from the wind farms.

"That overhaul will enable us to just capture on the most advanced technology that exists in the industry today and, make the projects operate more efficiently," said Taylor.

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Taylor said actual construction and replacement of the turbines will start in 2026. The new turbines will be good for another 20 to 30 years, and allow AES to "continue the project operations," said Taylor. "Keeping people employed, keeping the economic benefits through the tax revenue, and landowner payments for well into the future."

The building and operating of these wind farms has been a topic of great debate and contention over the years, especially in the communities where they’ve been built.

She also reiterated that no new wind projects are being built.

"We're repowering and staying within the same project boundaries that the project already exists today. It's very little new impact that folks aren't already used to seeing."

NYSERDA said in a press release that the new energy contracts, which the four AES wind projects in the North Country are a part of, will put the state on track towards its 2030 goal of getting 70% of New York’s electricity from renewable sources.