A new meteorological wind study is underway in Allen County, marking the first step in evaluating a potential future wind energy project.
River Cat Wind LLC, working with Steelhead Americas of Portland, Oreg., began installing equipment last week to measure wind patterns in the southern portion of the county. The study will help determine whether the area is suitable for a commercial wind farm, though any development remains years away.
Terry Call, Allen County zoning administrator, confirmed the timeline and scope of the study.
“They put up a new temporary tower on a property. When the wind study’s over, they’ll take that tower back down,” Call said Thursday.
In addition to the newly installed tower, equipment has also been mounted on the county’s communications tower south of the landfill to collect wind data in the area.
River Cat Wind is renting space on the Allen County communications tower at the landfill.
The tower was erected to improve communications between law enforcement agencies.
When the study is completed, River Cat Wind will remove their equipment, Call said.
While the exact start date of the study is unclear, Call noted the work began last week.
The study is expected to last between one and two years and will collect data on wind speeds and patterns — critical information for determining whether a wind farm would be viable.
“I would think that, with the weather we’ve had the last two weeks, there ought to be enough wind to justify it right now,” Call said with a laugh.
Even if the data supports development, construction will not happen anytime soon.
“When the company first started talking about doing the wind study, they said that if they did end up doing a wind farm, it would be three to four years out from now,” Call explained.
The proposed project area has not been finalized, but Call says early indications suggest it would be south of 54 Highway and west of 59 Highway.
If built, the new wind farm could be larger than the county’s existing wind farm, the Prairie Queen Wind Farm, which sits in the northern part of Allen County between Moran and LaHarpe. That project, which came online in 2019, includes 59 turbines and generates up to 200 megawatts of electricity.
BEFORE ANY construction could begin, the future project would need to pass through multiple layers of review, including zoning approvals, environmental studies, and public input.
