The wind farm is located near the towns of Readsboro and Searsburg and created nearly 200 jobs at the peak of its construction. It is the first wind farm on US Forest Service land. Readsboro and Searsburg will receive direct annual payments expected to total $6.8 million over the life of the project, and the wind farm will generate an estimated $6 million in tax payments to the state to support education funding.
“This project in concept has been at the forefront of our programme of work for many years” said John Sinclair, Forest Supervisor for the Green Mountain and Finger Lakes National Forests. “Today we are proud to recognize the dedicated USFS employees, local leaders, partners and government agencies that have contributed countless hours of work toward making the development of our nation’s first commercial-scale wind energy facility on National Forest System lands a reality here in Vermont.”
Searsburg board member and town energy coordinator Mike Johnson added that the project will deliver big benefits for everyone in the town and is a giant boost for clean energy.
The 30 MW wind farm utilises 15 Siemens Gamesa wind turbines, generating enough renewable energy to power roughly 14,000 average Vermont homes annually. Avangrid Renewables will own and operate the wind farm, and sell the energy to Green Mountain Power under a 25-year power purchase agreement.
The Deerfield Wind Farm construction has spent roughly $7.5 million locally to date. More than 25 New England-based companies worked on the wind farm, including 11 from Vermont, supplying a range of services from labor and materials to engineering and electrical work.
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