THE NEW YORK TIMES: Shell Subsidiary to Buy Wind Power Project: Posted Saturday 8 October 2005

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: October 7, 2005

Filed at 4:35 p.m. ET

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- Shell WindEnergy Inc., a subsidiary of oil company Royal Dutch Shell PLC, on Friday announced an agreement to buy a West Virginia wind power project from NedPower Mount Storm LLC.

The Grant County project is permitted for 200 wind towers, and is near another 166-turbine project proposed by US Wind Force LLC. Both projects would dwarf the state's lone existing wind farm, Exelon Corp.'s 44-tower Mountaineer Wind Energy Center in neighboring Tucker County.

Houston-based Shell WindEnergy owns a 50 percent stake in seven U.S. wind generation facilities, with a total capacity of 634 megawatts, according to a filing with the state Public Service Commission. Terms of the deal were not released.

If approved by regulators, the NedPower acquisition would be Shell's first wind project east of the Mississippi, said Shell spokesman Tim O'Leary. Construction at the site could begin in November, he said.

''Shell WindEnergy is looking forward to becoming a productive corporate citizen in West Virginia,'' Milton Hernandez, chairman of Shell WindEnergy, said in a release. ''The Mount Storm project will help to further diversify the Appalachian economy and bring the region clean, renewable energy.''

Citizens groups have protested wind projects in the state, arguing that the turbines would harm the environment in the scenic Allegheny Highlands. The groups cite bat kills, impacts on birds, harm to animal habitats and noise pollution.

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