Developers of a northwest Iowa wind farm plan to erect 18 turbines in Emmet County. The Red Rock Wind Energy Center project is being scaled back in neighboring Dickinson County, though, as officials consider changes to Dickinson County’s wind turbine ordinance.
Joe Crowley is project developer for Invenergy, the company building the wind farm. “We’ve definitely been delayed,” Crowley said Tuesday. “…That being said, working with counties is how we build successful projects.”
The company originally planned to build 83 wind turbines in Dickinson County, but Crowley says that maybe pared back. Yesterday, Crowley briefed Emmet County Supervisors on Invenergy’s prep work in their county.
“We’ve been doing geo-technical studies as well diligence to make sure that the sites that we currently have are suitable for the turbines that we’re contemplating,” Crowley said, “as well as just keeping up on working with landowners and refining our layout to make sure that they fit the needs as best as possible.”
The Red Rock Wind Energy Center is planned for Emmet, Dickinson and Clay Counties. Invenergy has built 17 other wind farms in Iowa.
(By Ed Funston, KILR, Estherville)
(This story was updated on 5/2 to clarify plans to cut back number of turbines.)