First Wind targeting Molunkus for 65-turbine project

Maine’s largest developer of wind-to-energy sites has done preliminary testing to see whether conditions in this southern Aroostook County town can support a 145-megawatt development, officials said Friday.

The company, spokesman John Lamontagne said, hasn’t yet established a test tower in the area, which would be its usual procedure in such situations, but hopes to have test towers there soon.
A letter from First Wind CEO Paul Gaynor to Debra Morrell of the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection listed Molunkus among five projects that, if approved, would generate 410 megawatts of electricity, including one in Goshen, Conn. The Molunkus project would include 65 turbines, according to documents First Wind filed with the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

According to Gaynor’s letter, Weaver Wind in Aurora, Maine, would generate 99 megawatts; Somerset, near West Forks, Maine, 85; and Hancock Wind, in Eastbrook, would generate 51 megawatts, according to the July 31 letter.

Molunkus is just northeast of Medway.

First Wind currently operates five wind farms in Maine: Mars Hill Wind in Aroostook County, Rollins Wind in Penobscot County, Bull Hill Wind in Hancock County, and Stetson Wind I & II in Washington County.

http://bangordailynews.com/2013/08/16/news/aroostook/first-wind-targeting-molunkus-for-65-turbine-project/