NCET

Construction of White Pine County’s first commercial wind turbine farm could begin as early as next summer and bring up to 200 workers to the rural area, project officials said.

Pattern Energy, the Houston-based developer, is hoping to start construction of a 160-megawatt wind farm in Spring Valley next summer or early fall. The project could be completed by the second quarter of 2011, according to Wells McGiffert, the Bureau of Land Management’s renewable energy project manager in Ely.The company hired international contractor Mortenson Construction to assemble the 66 or so turbines.

While the influx of 150 to 200 construction workers from outside the area could provide a boost to the county’s food and lodging sector, McGiffert said the BLM is working to create short-term opportunities for county residents as well.

McGiffert told county commissioners this month that the agency encouraging the developer to hire local workers. Read full story:

Technorati Tags: Pattern Energy, Wells McGiffert, Ely, Mortenson Construction, Riverstone Holdings LLC, Babcock & Brown’s North American Energy Group, business, NCET, Nevada’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology

This entry was posted on Monday, October 26th, 2009 at 1:26 pm and is filed under Reno-Tahoe, Rural Nevada. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.