Wind turbine decommissioning plan approved

After months of discussion, Union County approved their wind turbine decommissioning plan Wednesday, setting groundwork for how abandoned or end-of-life wind turbines can be removed from properties.

MidAmerican Energy has installed wind turbines in Union County, as well as Adair and Adams counties, for their Southern Hills Wind Project. In Union County, 36 turbines have been installed. The energy company provided estimates on the cost of decommissioning all 36 turbines at $5.8 million, or about $161,000 per turbine.

However, MidAmerican claims this number can be lowered based on the potential salvage scrap profit. MidAmerican’s estimates claim about 74.1% of a wind turbine’s decommissioning costs can be recouped through scrapping materials, lowering the net cost of decommissioning to $1.5 million, or $41,700 per turbine.

As a part of the decommissioning plan, descriptions for how materials will be removed and scrapped are included, as well as projected scrap prices. These range from steel and copper scrap to wind turbine blades.

The state of disturbed land will be “restored to original grade,” according to the decommissioning plan. Plans to return native soils, seeds and vegetation based on the surrounding land were set.

Activities associated with decommissioning would take place on a six-month timeframe. A schedule broke down decommissioning into three parts: two months of decommissioning, planning and permitting, three months of demolition and one month of site restoration.

The decommissioning plan and the introduction of wind farms into the Union County countryside received notable complaints from various Union County residents.

During Wednesday’s public forum, Robert Vicker spoke against the decommissioning plan, asking the board of supervisors to spend more time analyzing the plan and to force MidAmerican Energy into more responsibility for the wind farm project, including a “serious number” for decommissioning costs.

“I believe this report from MidAmerican leaves the county and county taxpayers in great financial peril,” Vicker said.

Vicker has contributed to various changes to the decommissioning plan, communicating with the board of supervisors on inaccurate information. On Wednesday, he cited examples of neighboring states and the costs related to decommissioning projects there, at times substantially higher than costs described in Union County’s plan.

Another concern raised by Vicker was how demolition could cause damage to the soil where the turbines once stood if proper debris removal does not take place.

Supervisor Dennis Hopkins said, while the public’s concerns are valid, Union County taking the steps to create a decommissioning plan puts the county ahead of its neighbors in planning for the costs wind farms will create.