How can I have a wind developer put wind turbines on my property?
I have an engineering consulting practice and live in a state that is
in America's wind corridor (Colorado) so I sometimes have people who own rural
land inquire about wind farm leases and whether their land might be
suitable for the construction of some wind turbines.
In order to be a desirable site for wind development, your land needs to be in close proximity to power lines with available capacity to transport the power to end customers. If not, it gets very expensive to build new distribution lines (about $500K per mile) and so wind developers tend to look for sites with proximity to existing lines and not too far from population centers that will use the electricity.
Secondly, there needs to be evidence of strong and consistent wind with an annual average of around 15 mph or more to be attractive. To measure annual average wind, the site usually has some meteorological towers constructed and a year's worth of wind data is gathered. Today, it's not unusual for a developer to target a large site where more than a hundred turbines can be erected. This requires getting leases and permits from many different land owners. If you haven't been approached by a wind developer, you might want to check with you neighbors to see if any wind developers have been knocking on their doors. People in Wyoming with large ranches that are in close proximity to existing lines have had a steady stream of wind developers asking them to sign wind contracts.
A typical wind turbine today has a blade diameter of around 270' and is capable of generating 2 MW of power. The minimum spacing is about 3 diameters (810') in rows, and 10 blade diameters (8100') apart in columns. Often times, the geography of the land will dictate where the towers can be erected, but in general, they try to get them spaced at least that far apart to make sure they don't disrupt each others' wind too much and that they can be accessed easily for periodic maintenance. Even though each turbine doesn't take up much land, probably less than a half acre, due to the spacing requirement, it is not possible to position them closer to each other than about one turbine per 50 to 75 acres.
If you have a small amount of land on which you might fit a few turbines, the viability of being part of a wind project is predicated on having other land in close proximity to yours where the rest of the turbines can be arranged to make up a wind farm. Also, signing a contract with a wind developer is no guarantee of how many turbines will end up on your property. It often covers just right-of-way issues for accessing and laying cables and you may or may not end up hosting any turbines, and in those cases, you would not get any rent for the turbines if they end up on your neighbor's property due to better siting conditions.
The developer will pay for all the costs associated with getting the permits and constructing the towers (which cost about $2-3M each). The land owner gets a yearly rent, which is usually based on electrical production of the turbines. I've seen amounts from $2500-$6000 per turbine annually, depending on how much power can be generated
In order to be a desirable site for wind development, your land needs to be in close proximity to power lines with available capacity to transport the power to end customers. If not, it gets very expensive to build new distribution lines (about $500K per mile) and so wind developers tend to look for sites with proximity to existing lines and not too far from population centers that will use the electricity.
Secondly, there needs to be evidence of strong and consistent wind with an annual average of around 15 mph or more to be attractive. To measure annual average wind, the site usually has some meteorological towers constructed and a year's worth of wind data is gathered. Today, it's not unusual for a developer to target a large site where more than a hundred turbines can be erected. This requires getting leases and permits from many different land owners. If you haven't been approached by a wind developer, you might want to check with you neighbors to see if any wind developers have been knocking on their doors. People in Wyoming with large ranches that are in close proximity to existing lines have had a steady stream of wind developers asking them to sign wind contracts.
A typical wind turbine today has a blade diameter of around 270' and is capable of generating 2 MW of power. The minimum spacing is about 3 diameters (810') in rows, and 10 blade diameters (8100') apart in columns. Often times, the geography of the land will dictate where the towers can be erected, but in general, they try to get them spaced at least that far apart to make sure they don't disrupt each others' wind too much and that they can be accessed easily for periodic maintenance. Even though each turbine doesn't take up much land, probably less than a half acre, due to the spacing requirement, it is not possible to position them closer to each other than about one turbine per 50 to 75 acres.
If you have a small amount of land on which you might fit a few turbines, the viability of being part of a wind project is predicated on having other land in close proximity to yours where the rest of the turbines can be arranged to make up a wind farm. Also, signing a contract with a wind developer is no guarantee of how many turbines will end up on your property. It often covers just right-of-way issues for accessing and laying cables and you may or may not end up hosting any turbines, and in those cases, you would not get any rent for the turbines if they end up on your neighbor's property due to better siting conditions.
The developer will pay for all the costs associated with getting the permits and constructing the towers (which cost about $2-3M each). The land owner gets a yearly rent, which is usually based on electrical production of the turbines. I've seen amounts from $2500-$6000 per turbine annually, depending on how much power can be generated
Wind Resources
What companies does one contact if interested to find out if a turbine can be put on their property? Thanks.
I have a 5 acre field and was wondering if there was a way to get a wind turbine placed on it. There are other pieces of land near that may allow for more. Please let me know what you can.