In Washington County, 30 wind turbines generating power and payments to local governments

An aerial view of wind turbines and woods and fields.

Photo / Courtesy Downeast Wind Charlottesville, Va.-based Apex Clean Energy selected Washington County for a wind turbine project based on access to existing transmission lines and a strong wind resource, as well as landowners interested in doing business.

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By Laurie Schreiber

Thirty wind turbines generating 126 combined megawatts of energy are up and running in Washington County, and last week’s ribbon-cutting for the project’s operations and maintenance building signaled the start of community benefit payments to local governments.

Charlottesville, Va.-based Apex Clean Energy began the $235 million project, called Downeast Wind, in 2017.

The 4.2-megawatt turbines are spread across the town of Columbia and unorganized territories in Washington County.

“Washington County was selected for the project due to interested landowners, access to existing transmission lines and a strong wind resource allowing for the generation of affordable electricity for the regional electric grid,” Apex spokesman Brian O’Shea. told Mainebiz.

A variety of factors led to the long project timeline, including the procurement of several long-lead items that were necessary to make upgrades to the local transmission system, paid for by the project, not ratepayers, he noted.

Downeast Wind is a subsidiary of Apex.

Contractors

Apex completed construction earlier this year. Construction was led by Woolwich-based Reed & Reed Inc. and other local contractors and suppliers, including Orono-based Sargent Corp., which worked on the infrastructure, including roads and concrete batch plants, Apex said.

Other Maine contractors included Comprehensive Land Technologies Inc., of China, and concrete supplier Owen J. Folsom Inc., of Old Town.

The project uses wind turbines made by Danish firm Vestas but containing multiple U.S.-manufactured components. The turbines were transported by rail or sea through Mack Point Terminal in Searsport.

Besides the turbines, construction included the maintenance building, three temporary towers, electrical collection corridors, transmission lines, new access roads and improvements to existing roads.

The project began generating enough power for the local electric grid to power the annual electricity needs of 37,000 average homes, according to the company.

Blueberry country

Much of the project is in and around Washington County's wild blueberry fields.

“Integrating a grid-scale wind farm with a wild blueberry farm presented unique planning challenges,” said David Bell of Cherryfield Foods, which worked with Apex to make the wind farm compatible with wild blueberry harvesting."

A person uses oversize scissors to cut a ribbon.

Photo / Courtesy Downeast Wind

Apex CEO Ken Young cut the ribbon last week on Downeast Wind’s operations and maintenance building in Columbia.

Construction included upgrades to the electric grid.

Working in partnership with Versant Power, Downeast Wind funded over $50 million in upgrades to the Downeast Loop transmission system, including modernizing more than three miles of transmission line and installing equipment that improves power quality and grid stability for the entire region.

Community payments

As part of the deal with Apex, the town of Columbia and the Washington County Commissioners in 2021 approved separate tax increment financing and community benefit agreements that total close to $20 million. Aside from the guaranteed revenue, the agreements were also expected to guard against tax shift losses, preserving state aid levels for the town and county.

At last week’s ribbon-cutting, Apex CEO Ken Young presented $435,484 to the town of Columbia and $842,720 to Washington County in community benefit payments.

In Columbia, $250,000 was earmarked for salt-shed infrastructure and $30,000 to support the Pleasant River Ambulance Service.

The Washington County money included $350,000 for lakeshore improvements on Schoodic Lake and additional funds for an annual scholarship for Washington County students pursuing vocational training or college degrees.

“Downeast Wind is one of the largest economic developments in Washington County’s history, and this community benefit payment is just one of several ways the project is strengthening our region,” said Charles Rudelitch, executive director of the Sunrise County Economic Council, who accepted the money with Renee Gray, the county manager.

Apex’s community grant program has awarded more than $100,000 to date for local nonprofits and causes.

The operations and maintenance building in Columbia has six full-time jobs.

Apex's reach

Apex has completed more than 40 clean energy projects across the country representing over 10 gigawatts of capacity and is operating projects that generate enough electricity each year to power more than 3 million homes.

The company has over 100 projects in various stages of development across the country, representing over 40 gigawatts of energy capacity.

“We don’t currently have additional projects in development in New England, but continue to explore new wind, solar and storage projects across the country,” said O'Shea, the Apex spokesman.