Maple Ridge Wind Farm



Maple Ridge Wind Farm is the largest wind farm in the state of New York in the United States. Located on Tug Hill in Lewis County, the facility has 195 wind turbines. At full operation, the turbines can produce a maximum of 321.75 megawatts (MW) of electricity.

Description
Maple Ridge Wind Farm, which achieved full operation in 2006, is a facility with 195 Vestas model V82 1.65 MW wind turbines. The Danish model machines were shipped in parts by sea to the United States, and via the St. Lawrence Seaway to Lake Ontario, where they were unloaded at the Oswego Port Authority. They were transported by numerous trucks to the area of the farm near Lowville, New York.

Each turbine tower is 260 ft tall. Each turbine has blades 130 ft long, which added to the hub diameter gives a rotor diameter of 270 ft. Collectively, the turbines can produce a maximum of nearly 322 MW.

Maple Ridge Wind Farm became fully operational in June 2006.

The wind farm is located on Tug Hill in Lewis County, New York. The site was chosen because it lies at an elevation of 1600 - 1800 ft; strong winds are part of the area's lake-effect weather patterns generated by nearby Lake Ontario.

Maple Ridge Wind Farm was named in honor of Lewis County's maple syrup production, for which it ranks as the top county in New York. The company generally leased a total of 21,000 acre of land for its facility, in an area used primarily as pasture and for the cultivation of feed-crops. NPR reported mixed reactions among the neighbors to the wind farm operations.