Wind farm setback termed temporary

By Dan MacArthur
North Forty News

Proponents are professing optimism for a wind farm despite the demise of a deal to build a $500 million project 25 miles northwest of Fort Collins.

The Colorado State University Research Foundation in November declared Wind Holding LLC in default of its lease after it failed to pay creditors and begin construction of the wind farm.

CSURF, which owns the 11,000-acre Maxwell Ranch near the Colorado-Wyoming border, in July gave Wind Holding 60 days to comply with the lease terms. That deadline was extended to Oct. 31, but Wind Holding still did not deliver.

Bill Farland, CSU vice president for research and engagement and a nonvoting member of the CSURF board, said Wind Holding "simply was a victim of the economic circumstances worldwide." He said the deal fell apart after the large German bank backing the project pulled the plug on further funding.

As a result, Wind Holding was unable to make good on what Farland earlier called a "significant amount" of debt.

Among those debtors are CSURF, which Farland said has not yet received the $50,000 it is contractually owed for extending the compliance deadline.

Wind Holding's primary environmental and design consultant, EDAW, also has not been fully paid, according to senior associate Jeremy Call. He declined to release the amount owed.

Farland said he understands that most the work necessary to apply for a construction permit from Larimer County has been completed. That data, he said, belongs to Wind Holding and could be sold to another developer.

"We're at a good place," Call said, while noting that the preferred route for transmission lines has yet to be determined.

Call predicted that another wind farm proposal would arise within the next 12 months. "We're starting to see projects put on hold are starting to rev up again," he said.

"We're actually seeing quite a bit of interest," concurred Farland, noting that he has been notified by perhaps a half dozen would-be wind farm developers. He said inquiries will be reviewed by CSURF, the private, nonprofit agency that handles real estate transactions on behalf of the university.

"We want to try to get everything cleaned up with the previous agreement," Farland said. "I think everybody is interested in keeping things moving. At some point we need to have a clean opportunity for development."

"While this is a temporary setback for the project, the university is still very committed to building a wind farm on this site and will take the next few months to review opportunities for the property," Farland said in an earlier statement. "The university is committed to doing its part to encourage research into clean and renewable energy solutions as well as working with Larimer County and neighbors to build a wind farm at Maxwell Ranch."

The Green Power Project was announced with great fanfare in March 2007 as an outdoor laboratory cementing CSU's reputation as leader in educating a new green workforce.

Some 100 turbines 405 feet tall from the base to the tip of the 147-foot rotor blades would be erected along with transmission lines necessary to deliver the electricity to a substation in Ault for distribution. The wind farm would generate enough electricity to power more than 70,000 homes, according to CSU.