Blue Creek Wind Farm

Communities profit when local landowners harvest the wind in addition to their traditional crops.

Contact

Please contact Project Developer Dan Litchfield with any questions on the project: 773-318-1289, dlitchfield@iberdrolausa.com.

Project Permitting Documents

Click here to view Blue Creek Wind Farm's Project Permitting Documents.

Project Location

Tully, Union, and Hoaglin Townships of Van Wert County, Ohio, and Benton, Blue Creek, and Latty Townships of Paulding County, Ohio.

Project Status

Expected on-line by 2011

Project Capacity

350 Megawatts (MW)

Number of Wind Turbines

175 Gamesa G87, 2.0 MW wind turbines, which are made in Pennsylvania.

Households Served

Each turbine can produce up to two megawatts or 2,700 horsepower, which is enough to power about 500 average Ohio houses. The total project will power approximately 87,500 homes annually. According to the 2000 census, there are 11,600 households in Van Wert County and 7,700 households in Paulding County.

Technology

The turbines will be on either a 256 foot (78 meter) tower for a total height to the top of the blades of 398 feet, or a 328 foot (100 meter) tower for a total height of 476 feet. Each nacelle weighs 85 tons. Each foundation uses about 50 truckloads of concrete and 45 tons of steel rebar.

Local Economic Benefits

Approximately $1.1 million in annual lease payments to local landowners, 15-20 new permanent jobs, over 300 construction jobs, local purchase of some supplies and construction materials, and local property taxes.

Energy and Environmental Benefits

Offsets carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 1.3 billion pounds per year. That is the equivalent of planting an estimated 525,000 acres of trees — (Van Wert County and Paulding County combined are 530,000 acres), taking 114,000 cars off the road, or reducing the consumption of over 2.1 million barrels of oil. If electric cars were widely available, this project will produce enough electricity to power 479,000 electric cars for a year.

Homegrown wind power will be another crop from the farm fields of Van Wert and Paulding Counties. Blowing all year long, with a strong yield in winter, it will provide for generations.

Download a printable version of this fact sheet.