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Invenergy outlines early-stage wind project in southern Wright County; company stresses voluntary easements and environmental reviews
Summary
Invenergy representatives described a long-range plan to develop up to roughly 50 MW in southern Wright County, outlined timelines to 2029–2030, discussed voluntary easements with landowners and said environmental and transmission studies will guide siting.
Representatives from Invenergy presented an early-stage plan on May 27 to develop wind generation in southern Wright County, saying the project is still in the land-acquisition and study phase and that construction would not begin for several years.
"We began the land campaign here in Wright County in 2022," David Palmer, Invenergy manager of community affairs, told the board. He said the company has signed easements on roughly 14,500 acres with more than 30 landowners and models the project today at about 50 megawatts of generation capacity; engineers are modeling turbines at about 4 MW each with an approximate tip height near 580 feet, though Palmer said those figures are preliminary and depend on manufacturer selection.
Palmer emphasized that Invenergy uses voluntary easements (no eminent domain) and that development payments during the pre-operation phase shift to per-turbine payments once generation begins. He also said the company expects to likely build a substation in Wright County because of local transmission capacity.
The company described a long timeline: continued development through the late 2020s, potential construction in 2029 and commercial operation by 2030, pending environmental studies, permitting and transmission approvals. Palmer said Avian and bat studies will collect at least two years of data and that siting will avoid biologically sensitive areas when possible; the company also mentioned curtailment options during migration periods and the use of advanced detection lighting systems (ADLS) to reduce nighttime blinking lights where permitted.
Supervisors raised drainage-district concerns and asked Invenergy to coordinate with county drainage maps and engineers. Palmer said the company prioritizes early data collection to design efficient layouts that avoid drainage tile and sensitive areas; he pledged to maintain communications with county staff. The presentation included questions from supervisors about easement payments (Invenergy declined to give specific figures citing competitive reasons), decommissioning and blade recycling (Invenergy described recycling efforts and repowering as industry trends) and whether the project relies on federal tax incentives (company said planning is being done to be resilient to federal uncertainty). No action was taken; the presentation closed with Invenergy offering contact information for follow-up.
