A wind farm in Wyoming County, NY gives an idea of the size and scope of the turbines that may soon be put in place in Villenova and Hanover. (Photo from the Buffalo News)

ARKWRIGHT – A $156 Million wind farm in northern Chautauqua County is making progress and will commence with construction next year.

That’s according to officials with the Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency, who participated in the announcement on Wednesday in the Arkwright Town Hall.

IDA officials say that Arkwright Summit Wind Farm LLC – a company owned by EDP Renewables North America LLC (EDPR) – will build 36 wind turbines with a maximum generating capacity of 78.4 megawatts- which is enough electricity to power approximately 31,500 households. The wind farm will span approximately 6500 acres of leased private land in the Towns of Arkwright and Pomfret.

In addition to the turbines, the wind farm will include one permanent meteorological tower, an operation and maintenance building, underground electrical lines and communication cables, an overhead generator lead line, and a system of gravel access roads, parking, landscaping and related improvements.

The large scale wind project – which has been in the works for over ten years – has received local municipal approval, and the IDA approved financial assistance for the project in October 2015.

According to EDPR officials, the Wind Farm will pay a total of $313,600 each year for 30 years to be split among Chautauqua County, the towns of Pomfret and Arkwright, and the Pine Valley, Forestville, and Fredonia school districts.

In addition, more than $500,000 will be paid in annual lease payments to participating land owners.

The company anticipates the creation of six permanent jobs in addition to 250 part time positions during the wind farm’s construction.

The Chautauqua County IDA Board of Directors during its October 2015 meeting.

JAMESTOWN – The effort to develop the largest wind farm in Chautauqua County is one step closer to becoming a reality.

On Wednesday the Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency approved a $316,800 Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) agreement for EDP Renewables North America to build a $150 million wind farm in Arkwright consisting of 36 Wind Turbines.

The turbines will be located primarily on private property, and the property owners will continue to pay full value tax payments. The PILOT only covers the taxes for the new turbines and would be paid each year for 30 years, split between the county, township and three school districts. IDA executive director Kevin Sandvidge says, however, that a tax abatement will be gradually phased out with the EDP Renewables eventually paying taxes on the turbines.

“The PILOT will go to the five jurisdictions,” Sanvidge said. “An annual payment of $81,000 will go to the county and a payment of $57,000 will go to the town. The remaining money will be split between the three school districts of Forestville, Pine Valley and Fredonia.”

EDP Renewables project manager Jeffrey Nemeth said in addition to the PILOT, the company will also make an annual land use payment of $500,000 to the various property owners who are involved. And the company is also investing in upgrading several roads in the town, so that workers can have better access to the locations where the turbines will be put up.

A wind farm in Wyoming County, NY gives an idea of the size and scope of the turbines that may soon be put in place in the Town of Arkwright by EDP Renewables North America. (Photo from the Buffalo News)

Each turbine will stand approx. 492 ft. high from the ground to the tip of the blade. Each turbine will have three blades and will generate, on average, about 2.2 MW of energy. An underground utility line will also be installed, connecting the turbines to the NRG power line in the town of Pomfret.

Nemeth said the turbines will be located south of Route 83 and go as far north as Straight Road. Center Road will split the project in half with turbines on the east and west side of the road.

The project will create 200-250 short-term construction jobs. A bidding process will take place to determine who the contractor will be for the project. Once the turbines are up and running, Nemeth said there would be 6 to 8 permanent full time jobs that pay between $40,000 and $80,000 per year.

The project still needs to go through the state SEQR process and a public hearing before moving forward. If all goes according to schedule, the turbines will go up in mid 2017 and are expected to start generating power by late 2017.

NEW BUSINESS COMING INTO FORMER NOWINSKI PIEROGI LOCATION

Meanwhile, the IDA also took action that could lead to a new business operating out of a recently closed down Nowinski Pierogi factory in Westfield.

The IDA approved a resolution to lease equipment in the 15,000-square-foot facility at Bourne St., which was previously occupied by Rae Foods, Inc. – which owned and operated the Nowkinski operation.

Sanvidge said a yet-to-be-named investor is interested in leasing the equipment, which the IDA took ownership of after Rae Foods went into bankruptcy and was unable to pay back its debt on a $640,000 Al Tech loan.

He said the prospective business must first purchase the foreclosed property from the bank before it can move in. Once the purchase is made, more details about the business will be announced.

Rae Foods Inc. closed down at the start of this year – about a year after it began operation.