Wind Farm on Its Way to Eastern Illinois?

By Kalyn Belsha in News on May 17, 2009 8:45PM

A Chicago-based company is working with Champaign and Vermilion county officials to build a 28,000-acre wind farm that would stretch across eastern Illinois.

Invenergy, an eight-year-old clean energy company based in the Loop, says it is negotiating with the area's property owners to build up to 133 wind turbines. The wind farm would cost more than $400 million to construct.

According to the Associated Press, an Invenergy spokesman said the company intends to apply for permits with the counties by the end of August. If all goes well, building would start next summer and turbines would start turning by the end of 2010. The project would produce enough energy to run 60,000 Illinois homes.

Invenergy has already constructed more than a dozen wind farm projects across the States and as far as Poland. It began construction of several wind turbines in Illinois' LaSalle County last year. [S-T]