Pattern Energy Group LP says environmental concerns – namely, potential disruptions to golden- and bald-eagle habitats – have caused the company to suspend the development of a planned 100 MW wind project in Yolo County, Calif.
The project, which was planned for an area near Sacramento, was in ‘mid-stage development.’ According to Pattern Energy's Matt Dallas, the company had already set up SODAR for resource assessment and conducted ‘several biological and avian field studies.’ Construction had not been initiated.
‘The right thing to do is abandon this project,’ Mike Garland, CEO of Pattern Energy, said in a statement. ‘The risk to sensitive species at this project site outweighs the project benefits.’
Dallas noted that the Yolo project is the third in two years that the company has voluntarily abandoned for environmental reasons.
