Norwegian company Equinor and its Australian partner Oceanex withdrew plans to develop a 1,000 square kilometer offshore wind project in the Illawarra region. The decision followed the federal government's reduction of the project area and its relocation further offshore, increasing complexity and reducing attractiveness for investors.

Forward Township’s board of supervisors has approved an ordinance intended to enact controls on the development of alternative energy facilities in the township. This action, taken at the township’s monthly board of supervisors meeting on Monday night, Oct. 10, means alternative energy facilities like solar and wind farms will be considered commercial developments and subject to strict guidelines for their design, installation and — if necessary — decommissioning.

Forward Township’s board of supervisors has approved an ordinance intended to enact controls on the development of alternative energy facilities in the township. This action, taken at the township’s monthly board of supervisors meeting on Monday night, Oct. 10, means alternative energy facilities like solar and wind farms will be considered commercial developments and subject to strict guidelines for their design, installation and — if necessary — decommissioning.

Farmers are rejecting offers to host wind turbines to avoid being left with the massive cleanup costs after these things grind to a halt. At first blush, being paid an annual license fee of $10-25,000 per turbine, per year sounds lucrative enough. However, put that against the $600,000 plus cost of demolishing and removing a single turbine, and the deal soon loses its gloss. Indeed, the ultimate multi-million-dollar cost of removing dozens of turbines from a farming property, makes the piddling revenue stream look like chump change.

The Washington County, Tennessee Commission denied a resolution on Monday to rezone 200 acres in Gray where a solar power company, Silicon Ranch, wants to build a 12 megawatt (MW) solar farm. The proposal required a rezoning from A-1 (general agriculture) to A-3 (agriculture-business). Following comments by several neighbors of the farm currently owned by the Hall family — all in opposition to the proposal — only four of the 11 commissioners present voted yes, with seven voting against the rezoning. The Washington County Regional Planning Commission had voted 5-1-1 in favor of the proposal earlier this month. Unless the company makes another attempt to gain passage, Monday’s vote effectively blocked Silicon Ranch from developing a solar farm on that property

The DeKalb County Board voted down an ordinance approving a special use permit for an 88-acre 5-megawatt solar garden in Squaw Grove township just south of Hinckley. Three DeKalb County citizens spoke out against the ordinance during the public comment portion of this week’s DeKalb County Board meeting. The issue centered on the impact of a solar garden on drain tiles, the upkeep of tiles, and how the garden would affect tiles in neighboring fields...County board members rejected the ordinance by a margin of 13 to 8.

After months of deliberation, public input and staff development, a revised ordinance for utility-scale solar installations in Linn County will soon be official. The board of supervisors unanimously approved the third and final reading of the revamped ordinance Tuesday. The board had approved the first and second readings of the ordinance at meetings earlier this month. The amended ordinance – effective upon publication in The Gazette, which is expected to happen within the next week – includes stricter guidelines for proposed developers of industrial-scale solar projects in Linn County.

It took hours, but after hearing many residents explain why they’re for and against RWE Clean Energy’s plan for an about 960-acre solar farm in Norman Township, the Grundy County Board voted against the special use permit that would allow the project to move forward...Many residents expressed concern that this would remove good farmland from use, which ultimately factored into the board’s decision to vote against the special use permit. County Board member Drew Muffler said there isn’t a need for solar power because Grundy County is already between three energy stations in La Salle, Dresden and Braidwood. Muffler said an engineer he spoke to told him that wind and solar energy are unreliable because there isn’t a base of solar generation that a community can count on.

The Putnam County Board of Zoning Appeals put the brakes on an energy company’s proposal to bring a 200-megawatt solar farm to Russell Township. In a special meeting Tuesday evening at the Bainbridge Community Center, a motion to approve the special exception for Cold Spring Solar Farm was defeated 4-1. Lora Scott, who made the motion, was the only affirmative vote. Fellow board members Randy Bee, Raymond McCloud, Kevin Scobee and Ron Sutherlin all cast negative votes. After 14 months of meetings and negotiations between Putnam County leaders and officials from Arevon Energy and developer Tenaska, the issue is at an end ... at least for now. Along the way, the plan received approval of a tax abatement from the Putnam County Council, as well as a $6 million economic development agreement with the Putnam County Commissioners, in addition to the framework of agreements on decommissioning and road use. The BZA, however, proved less amenable to the idea of converting 1,400 acres of farmground into a solar field.

A utility-scale solar developer trying to construct a 1,200-acre project in Greene County got bad news from the Ohio Supreme court last week. Ohio's highest court dismissed the company's appeal for a state board to re-hear its rejected application for the Greene County project. The application was rejected due to community pushback to the project because of concerns over an alternate use of farmland and property values.