The New York State Board on Electric Generation Siting and the Environment has granted approval to Bluestone Wind to build and operate a 124MW wind farm in Broome County.
The siting board’s decision follows a “detailed review and robust public participation process” to ensure that the Southern Tier wind farm meets or exceeds all siting requirements.
Siting board chairman John Rhodes said: “This approval of Bluestone Wind carefully balances environmental, community, and policy considerations, and meaningfully advances us toward our goal of a zero-carbon emission electric sector by 2040.
“With each siting board approval of a renewable energy facility we reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, and we demonstrate that renewable energy works in New York and helps create a clean energy-economy.”
The project will consist of up to 27 wind turbines, with 23 in the town of Sanford and four in the town of Windsor, together with associated underground collection lines, access roads, two permanent meteorological towers, and an operation and maintenance building in Sanford.
In addition to the turbines, a substation will be located in Sanford at the end of the project’s 34.5-kilovolt collection system and will include a 10MW battery.
A second substation will be located at the point of interconnection, adjacent to an existing electric transmission line owned by New York State Electric and Gas Corporation.
Bluestone Wind filed its formal application with the Siting Board in September 2018.
The siting board held two public information sessions, two on-the-record public statement hearings, two procedural conferences and conducted three days of evidentiary hearings at which expert and factual testimony was taken, all near the project area.