We expect construction and operation of Goodhue Wind's 78-megawatt wind farm to begin in 2010. First, we must meet a number of development milestones, including signing up the land for the project, fully assessing the area's wind regime, securing transmission interconnection, negotiating the sale of power to a utility or to utilities, and obtaining all necessary permits. Read on below to learn more about these development milestones as we meet them.
Project Progress
Fall of 2008: Formation
November 2008: Advisory Board Elected
February 2009: Met Tower Installed
April 2009: Site Control Goal Reached
June 2009: Power Purchase Agreement Awarded
August 2009: Bus Tour
September 2009: Site Control Milestone Met
October 2009: Site Permit Filed
December 2009: Turbine and Financing Agreement
January 2010: Meeting with Signed Landowners and County Commissioners
March 2010: Site-Control Activities Wrap Up
Anticipated 2010 Schedule
Fall of 2008
Formation - Goodhue Wind, LLC is formed.
November 2008
Advisory Board Formation - A local advisory board, consisting of Goodhue landowners and investors is formed.
February 2009
Wind Data Collection – A 60-meter met tower has been collecting wind data since February 2009. This assessment has been essential in determining the wind facility’s profitability and provides an accurate estimation of energy production. A standard practice is to collect at least one year of on-site wind data. The National Wind Assessments team will use the met tower's data and correlate it with other wind data from the area to optimize turbine layout, making the wind farm as productive and efficient as possible.
April 2009
Site Control Milestone - In only 7 short months, Goodhue Wind’s field team, consisting of Wayne Gadient and Doug Nowicki, signed 5,000 acres, almost half of the acres needed for the project’s development, indicating the project has significant support.
June 2009
Power Purchase Agreement Awarded - Goodhue Wind receives a Power Purchase Agreement. Due to the tough economic climate in 2009, Minnesota’s utilities issued only a few power purchase agreements. This highly selective process indicates that only the projects with the greatest potential in relation to transmission, wind assessment, and financing viability were chosen.
August 2009
Bus Tour - National Wind organized a bus tour that took 20 Goodhue Wind landowners to a wind farm in Dexter, Minnesota. Landowners met with a family who lives within 1500 feet from a wind turbine. They learned about this family’s positive experience living with wind energy. Landowners got the chance to get their questions answered directly. The landowners also met with the operations crew to learn about how the turbines are kept properly maintained. Goodhue Wind’s developers, Chuck Burdick and Ben Kerl also attended to share more about the economic development benefits of community wind.
September 2009
Site Control Milestone - Wayne Gadient and Doug Nowicki achieve an amazing site control milestone in less than a year. They have signed just over 10,000 acres for Goodhue Wind, LLC. This is nearly 80 percent of the acres needed for the project’s development.
October 2009
Site Permit Filed- Goodhue Wind’s site permit application, filed in October, was recently accepted (January 2010) as complete by the State of Minnesota. The public comment period remained open until January 22, 2010. The design and construction team will be working closely with Goodhue County on local permitting and construction coordination over the next several months.
December 2009
Turbine and Financing Agreement - Goodhue Wind secures a turbine and financing agreement. Goodhue Wind’s project will include 52 1.5 megawatt turbines.
January 2010
Landowner Meeting - On Wednesday, January 13th, the project hosted a meeting at the Goodhue Lion’s Club to communicate recent progress, accomplishments and next steps. Almost fifty community members were in attendance. Landowners learned about the progress made on permitting, site control, turbine selection and specifics about the construction process. This includes Goodhue Wind’s efforts to preserve and improve local roads.
Commissioners’ Meeting - January 19th marked an important day for Goodhue Wind. Goodhue Wind supporters presented to the County's Commissioners on the project's behalf. Signed landowners along with the project's development team led by senior wind farm developer, Chuck Burdick, wanted the commissioners and the community to understand the great benefits the project will provide the local area.
March 2010
Site Control Wrap-up Wayne Gadient and Doug Nowicki have signed just over 12,000 acres for the project’s development, with a full 215 project participants. This is enough acres to effectively develop the wind project.
Anticipated Schedule
- June 2010: Receive Site Permit
- Summer or Fall 2010: Start construction
- Winter or Spring 2011: Complete construction
