Kibby Wind Power project manager Wolfgang Neuhoff of TransCanada explains how the flow chart works in terms of his corporation, the general contractor and its subcontractors. TransCanada hosted an open house Tuesday, March 24 in Stratton. (David Hart photo) EUSTIS - - TransCanada celebrated the upcoming heart of its construction project —a 132 megawatt 44-turbine wind farm— last Tuesday, March 24 by hosting an open house where residents gathered at the Community Building in Stratton. More than 150 interested residents came out to meet representatives of TransCanada, Danish representatives of turbine manufacturer Vestas, leading general contractor Reed & Reed, and the subcontrac- tors Cianbro and Sargent Corporation. The leading contractors are all corporations from Maine and many of their subcontractors have been retained from the local area.

In fact, a construction newsletter revealed that $22 million had been spent to date on materials, labor and room and board. Upward of 3.3 million of those dollars were spent here in Franklin County. The project has already created or supported 138 jobs, 95 percent of which are occupied by Mainers.

Employment opportunities were discussed that evening as well and general information about the project. A large array of food and refreshments were offered making the evening casual and enjoyable.

The construction project, which will be Maine's largest wind farm, is alive and well and on schedule starting its busiest construction season this spring and summer.

Project Manager Wolfgang Neuhoff was present that evening to personally discuss the project details. Most of the roads for the first phase of the project were completed last fall. Trees had also been cleared for the first 22- turbine phase which is expected to be commissioned this fall on A-Ridge as it's called or on Kibby Mountain.

"They will be ready, commissioned and producing power by the end of 2009," Neuhoff explained.

The second phase on B-Ridge, or in the Kibby Range, will be started in the spring of 2010 and will be operational by the end of that year.

Also completed last year were the foundations for seven turbines, the site work for 12 other towers and significant work on the 28 miles of transmission line.

Cianbro had cleared the trees for 11 miles of the rightof way and 52 transmission poles have already been set. Neuhoff explained that 25 percent of the transmission line project is now complete.

The transmission lines will connect the wind farm to an eventually upgraded Bigelow Substation in Carrabassett Valley. From there electricity will enter the pool of the New England Power Grid. Neuhoff said that his

company is paying for the Bigelow substation upgrade but Central Maine Power will execute the work.

The project manager said one of the bigger concerns or challenges ahead is the mud season. He said he hoped the mud season would not be extended too late into spring.

"The roads have to be firm enough to allow us to bring our equipment in… We will watch it during the mud season and repair any soft spots. The minute the roads are firm enough, we will start the installation of the turbines," Neuhoff explained.

Equipment is expected to start arriving sometime in early May if conditions allow.

The first of the wind turbine equipment arrived in the county at the Searsport marine terminal on March 8. The massive crane that erects the towers had already arrived at the jobsite earlier in the month.

Not including the massive foundation, each Vestas V- 90 weighs over 300 tons. The nacelle or rotor body and blades, which are manufactured in Denmark, will span over 300 feet. The first 18 towers, which will stand nearly 300 feet high, are manufactured in Vietnam. The tips of the spinning blade will top 393 above ground in some locations.

Each turbine will require more than 10 trucks to transport it to the ridge lines. The largest is the nacelle which weighs 77 tons and will require a transport truck with 19 axels.

These massive pieces will all be transported from Searsport along Route 3 to Route 27 through northern Franklin County.

If you missed the massive crane which came through the northern county roads in transport, spectators will have over 450 more opportunities to witness these massive machine parts rolling through.

Neuhoff said that all roadways chosen had been determined and approved by the Maine Department of Transportation. "There are certain areas where we'll need to make small changes and improvements to the roads. We will be able to start that in the next three to four weeks," Neuhoff explained.

The project manager also stated that the operation and maintenance building near Highway 27 on the Gold Brook Road is almost complete. This project is being constructed by Riverside Builders of Carrabassett Valley and will house the space needed for construction operations, control equipment and other functions for the life of the project.

The project manager was asked if environmental regulations were impeding the progress of the project.

Neuhoff spoke of the fact that the environmental regulations set forth by the Land Use Regulation Commission had been generally favorable for the company. He did mention that there are environmental inspections, sometimes once a week or even more, by a third-party environmental inspector. He acknowledged that one problem was identified last fall, but no permanent damage was done after a significant rainfall event led to a failed erosion control measure.

"A number of mistakes were made and we learned from our mistakes, we corrected the situation and no permanent damage was done. We have implemented a different way of executing the work and right now we absolutely have no problems … the third party inspector is very happy with what he sees."

Neuhoff was asked about the people in the area and contractors that have been offered through the local community pool. "This has been a very pleasant surprise for us. The community appears to be behind the project, so from that point of view it's been a positive experience.

"We've been very fortunate that we've selected the right contractors. They are easy to work with and we have a very good working relationship and very positive working relationship on many of the projects. Sometimes you get into a confrontational situational early in the project and in this project we have none of this. It's been a very pleasant surprise working with these Maine contractors."

On top of the economic benefits of job support and job creation in the area, the product literature states the following: TransCanada has entered into significant conservation agreements; they will be a major tax contributor in the county; and offer many other financial benefits for the local area county and state. The company will additionally pay Stratton-Eustis $1,000 per megawatt per the project rated capacity of the 132 MW farm or $132,000 per year.