A Texas-based alternative-energy firm seeks expedited approval to build a 150-MW utility-scale solar-power project in southeastern Maryland after its plan to build a $200-million wind farm met with strong opposition from military officials and politicians who claimed turbine blades up to 500 ft high could interfere with operations at a nearby naval base. Local officials, who supported the project's economic and environmental benefits, now are battling with state politicians over a proposed permanent ban on wind projects in Maryland's eastern shore.
The original plan by Pioneer Green Energy, Austin, to build 25 wind turbines to generate the 150 MW "faced too many hurdles to justify continued investment," says Cyrus Tashakkori, project manager. Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D) suspended action on the project last summer, pending an MIT study, due out by September, of the turbines' impact on sensitive radar equipment at the Patuxent River Naval Air Station in St. Mary's County. Proponents say the project would produce up to $3 million in annual local tax revenue and help the state meet a 20% renewable-power goal by 2022.