Irish energy group Airtricity is taking the first steps towards investing in a €75 million wind farm in Pennsylvania in the US.
The company's US arm Airtricity Incorporated has submitted an initial planning application to the local authority in Shade township in Pennsylvania.
Airtricity is understood to be planning to build a wind farm with the capacity to generate 50 megawatts (mw) of electricity, enough to power about 30,000 homes, in Shade township and the adjoining Stoneycreek township. Both are in Somerset County in southwestern Pennsylvania.
The cost of building wind farms runs about €1.5 million per megawatt. A development on the scale that Airtricity is planning in Pennsylvania would cost €75 million. The Irish company's project is only in the initial stages of planning, and it will be around two years before it begins building, assuming it clears the regulatory hurdles.
Local government in Pennsylvania recently introduced new guidelines governing the size of wind turbines and the level of noise they can generate.
While there is controversy in the region over a rival company's plans for a wind farm in an unspoilt natural area, local planners said that they would not prejudge the Airtricity proposal.
One said that as long as the Irish company agrees to follow the guidelines, planners would have to grant it a permit.
Airtricity is investing €1.14 billion in a wind farm in Texas that will generate enough electricity to power over one million homes.
The company is also building wind farms across Europe. Its chief executive, Eddie O'Connor, has said that the Irish Government has missed out by not providing more support for alternative energy sources, including wind. Countries such as Germany and the UK have stepped up their support for energy generated from renewable sources. Airtricity is building farms in both countries. It recently raised €92 million to fund two projects in Scotland.
However, it has not been all plain sailing in the UK. Last week, planners in Scotland refused an Airtricity application for permission to build a 23mw, 10-turbine wind farm in the Borders region.
Earlier this year, the local authority in Sutherland in the Scottish highlands also refused the company planning permission.
