Vermilion Wind, a 255-megawatt, 15,000-acre wind project has started its development phase in Vermilion County.
The wind development project is spearheaded by Tri Global Energy, which develops and owns wind, solar and energy storage projects in Illinois, Indiana, Texas, Nebraska and Virginia.
“We have been able to form beneficial relationships with more than 3,500 participating landowners and community investors in Texas. We’ve found the same great land resources and entrepreneurial spirit here in Vermilion County, and this project will pay benefits locally for decades to come.”
TGE’s founder and chairman, John Billingsley
The Vermilion Wind project is located just south of the Little Vermilion River. Wind, utility interconnection and preliminary environmental studies are underway.
Development efforts are expected to continue over the next two to three years.
“Land acquisition will continue through 2020, even though a majority of leases will be signed by mid-October 2020. Transmission easements and Good Neighbor agreements will follow the initial lease-signing efforts. We look forward to working with the Vermilion community to cooperatively develop this project with them and to generating meaningful economic opportunity for project participants and the surrounding region.”
Project manager, Pete Boever.
Boever and his team estimate that over the next 25 years, Vermilion Wind will generate approximately $55 million dollars in landowner payments along with an estimated $47 million in tax revenues for local schools, roads and more. During the estimated six-to-nine-month construction phase approximately 150 full-time jobs will be created.
