REDINGTON TOWNSHIP – The acquisition of Black Nubble Mountain is a major milestone for a Yarmouth wind energy provider.

Endless Energy Corp. now owns nearly 1,000 acres on two mountains and the company seeks to build a 33-wind turbine farm.

The proposal drew strong opposition in 2002 with pledges from residents and environmentalists to oppose it and continues do so.

Corporation President Harley Lee said the company plans to move onto the next stage and submit permit applications to the state Land Use Regulation Commission and Department of Environmental Protection this spring.

Lee, who has been working on the project for several years, said the corporation’s acquisition of 459 acres on Black Nubble is a major milestone.

“We had to negotiate with all the landowners,” he said.

The corporation already owns 517 acres on Redington Pond Range, the second mountain proposed for the project. The mountains are located about 4 miles west of Sugarloaf Mountain Ski Area in Carrabassett Valley and 8 miles south of Stratton.

The Black Nubble site offers a strong wind resource because it is a natural 3,700-foot ridge that captures upper air winds, Lee said.

As proposed, the project would use 220 acres total for turbine sites, connector roads and power line corridors. The majority of the acreage to be used is in power line corridors, said Bill Connors a representative of Endless Energy.

The 220 acres is equivalent in size, Connors said, to 44, 5-acre house lots.

The wind farm is expected to generate an estimated 200 million kilowatt-hours a year, which is enough to power 33,000 Maine homes, Lee said.

The location has been carefully selected, he said, and is near existing roads, power lines, and located in one of Maine’s working forests.

Lee said the corporation has been collecting wind measurements from the mountains and plans to continue.

The first stage of an interconnect study has been completed, he said, with the corporation moving into the second phase of the study in an effort to provide so-called green power. The wind farm is estimated to prevent more than 600,000 pounds of pollution from being produced, Lee said, which is equivalent to taking 19,000 cars off the road permanently. It would take 40,000 gallons of oil a day to produce the same power, Lee added.

Plans for the project also include a visitor’s center that will offer tours of the facility and perform educational outreach.

Endless Energy is also exploring partnerships with local groups to make land available for recreational use, Lee said.

More information on the corporation or Redington wind farm is listed on www.endlessenergy.com.

According to Lee, a public opinion survey conducted in 1994 found that 75 percent of the snowmobilers, 80 percent of hunters, 83 percent of skiers and 84 percent of locals were supportive or neutral regarding the project.

However, Vera Trafton of Phillips and several others have collected more than 1,800 signatures opposing the project.

Trafton, a member of the Maine Appalachian Trail Club, said both the state and national trail clubs plan to oppose the project as well.

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