The Roanoke Group actively supports utility scale wind and solar energy. Distributed energy is an important part, but not the full solution.
ROCKY FORGE WIND
Virginia is one of nine states with no on-shore wind farms. All neighboring states except Kentucky have them. West Virginia has seven, one visible from Virginia, with number eight “in the oven”. Obviously, there is lots of wind power in our mountains.
In 2015, Rocky Forge Wind, a project of Apex Clean Energy of Charlottesville, Virginia, began the public engagement and permit process.
The site is about 4.5 miles north of Eagle Rock on North Mountain, very remote and highly suited for a wind farm. The plan is for 13 turbines with a maximum height of 643 ft. and a capacity of 75 MW.
Since 2015, plans have been made and permits granted. Legal challenges and advances in turbine technology with the passing of time have consumed time and led to amendments in plans and permits. A buyer for the power has been challenging.
Apex and DEQ have faced lawsuits... turbines will mar the scenic landscape, kill birds and bats, cause other environmental damage, and produce low-frequency noise and shadow flicker.
As of August, 2023, about a dozen Botetourt County and Rockbridge County residents have three cases pending. They are asking the Virginia Court of Appeals to reverse a decision by a Botetourt County judge upholding DEQ’s second approval of the wind farm. In the county’s circuit court, they are seeking to overturn two decisions from the Botetourt County Board of Zoning Appeals: a finding that Apex was entitled to an extension of a site plan deadline because of the pandemic, and approval for a temporary concrete-making facility near the construction site.
Apex hopes to begin major construction next summer or fall, and complete the project by the end of 2025.
More Information and to Share Your Comments with Apex
We recommend you go to: www.rockyforgewind.com for more details and updates.
Apex welcomes engagement with the public and can be reached at: info@rockyforgewind.com, or Apex Clean Energy, 120 Garrett St. Suite 700, Charlottesville, Va. 22902
SOLAR
There are three types of solar energy. Photovoltaic (PV), the familiar solar panels, turns sunlight into electricity.
Concentrated solar involves thousands of mirrors that focus sunlight on a central tower. Molten salt is usually used to transfer the extreme heat to turbines producing electricity.
Passive solar involves simple technology to harvest, or manage the sun’s heat through building designs and a variety of installations such as dark pipe water heaters.
The International Energy Agency tells us PV solar is the “cheapest electricity in history”.
According to Aaron Berryhill, solar program manager at Virginia Energy, at the end of 2015, Virginia had no active utility-scale solar and about 3,000 distributed installations. By the end of 2021, there were 51 active utility-scale solar facilities of 5 MW or more with a total capacity of 2,657 MW. There were 26,000 distributed solar installations with a total capacity of 248 MW.
Managing our individual carbon footprint is important, but to speed up the transition to renewable energy, we need utility-scale renewables, as confirmed by the above data.
Solar electricity generated by Virginia’s solar projects more than doubled from 2020 to 2021.
This impressive growth in utility-scale solar is encouraging, though it is virtually all east of us. In our region, there is significant opposition, resulting in the denial of numerous permits. Our active support is needed.