Maple Ridge Wind Farm
Maple Ridge Wind Farm is a 321.2 MW onshore wind facility on the Tug Hill Plateau in Lewis County, New York, spanning the towns of Lowville, Martinsburg, Harrisburg, and Watson. It consists of 195 Vestas V82-1.65 MW wind turbines. The project is jointly owned by EDP Renewables North America and Avangrid Renewables (each holding approximately 50%) and operates as an independent power producer in the NYISO balancing area. The facility interconnects at 230 kV to the Niagara Mohawk transmission system. Originally developed by PPM Energy and Zilkha Renewable Energy and announced for construction in April 2005, the project was built in phases with Phase I (231 MW, 140 turbines) commencing operations in January 2006 and Phase II (91 MW, 55 turbines) commencing operations in September 2007. Construction created hundreds of jobs and the facility generates approximately 1.2 TWh annually, sufficient to power approximately 138,000 New York homes. The project spans approximately 21,000 acres, with the turbine footprint occupying less than 1% of total acreage, allowing concurrent agricultural and wildlife use on landowner property.