West Hartford renewable energy developer BNE Energy has begun operations at its Colebrook South facility, marking the start of Connecticut’s first commercial wind farm.
Two General Electric wind turbines at the Colebrook South site officially joined the Connecticut power grid in a ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday . The milestone comes eight years after BNE acquired the Colebrook site to develop wind power in Connecticut.
“The future of our state and our country lies in the development of green energy and we are pleased to be playing our part,” said Gregory Zupkus, president and CEO of BNE. “The Colebrook South project is an important step toward maximizing the use of wind power on a commercial scale in Connecticut.”
The Colebrook South wind farm has a capacity of 5 megawatts and will power approximately 1,500 to 2,000 homes on average annually or more than double the amount of electricity used in the entire town of Colebrook each year. Colebrook South is approved for three turbines and BNE is already working to expand the project and add the third turbine to the site to maximize the amount of clean green energy that can be produced at the site.
BNE’s project didn’t come without controversy. A group of Northwest Connecticut residents, who had formed a turbine opposition group called FairWindCT, waged a legal battle trying to prevent the wind turbines from being built. The state also banned wind turbine development for several years before adopting regulations for the industry last year.
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