Cordelio Power developer introduces Odyssey Wind Project and seeks county right-of-way access

Annabelle O’Neil, a wind-energy developer with Cordelio Power, introduced the Odyssey Wind Project to the Gilliam County Court on Dec. 18 and asked the court to consider allowing use of county road rights-of-way to help connect the project to Bonneville Power Administration transmission lines.

O’Neil said the project is in early stages: Cordelio is signing leases with landowners, working with local developer Sean Bell of Navitas and developing an interconnection plan. She told the court the project currently has about 30,000 acres signed in the south part of Gilliam County and that the company’s broader target area could be roughly 50,000 to 60,000 acres depending on landowner participation and wind resource siting.

“We’re early in the process of planning,” O’Neil said. “We’re signing leases with landowners and then this interconnection kind of challenge is something we have to figure out over the next few months.”

O’Neil described one possible interconnection option as building monopole towers and lines to reach a BPA transmission line, or working with the county to upgrade or use existing infrastructure in county road rights-of-way. She said Cordelio is financially backed by the Canada Pension Plan and that the company typically owns and operates projects over their lifetimes rather than selling them after construction.

O’Neil said environmental studies such as bird counts on landowner properties could occur in coming seasons but that the official permitting process had not yet been started; she said a hearing on the county right-of-way is scheduled in January. She asked commissioners to direct questions to her and invited follow-up contact.

No formal county action on the right-of-way was recorded at the Dec. 18 meeting; the item was placed in the court’s calendar for a January hearing.