Wind-PowerA Virginia-based company has announced plans for a new wind farm with up to 150 turbines in northwest Iowa’s Clay County.

“We’re very early in the development stage right now,” says Dan Blondeau, a spokesman for APEX Clean Energy. “We’re still studying the wind resource and we’re also talking with property owners to see if we can get enough on board with the project to make it viable and at this point we’re looking at construction somewhere in 2018.”

APEX has opened an office in Royal, Iowa, for their “Upland Prairie Wind” project. Blondeau says “several hundred” construction jobs would be created.

“Construction will take anywhere from three to six months and then you’re looking at about 12-15 long-term jobs during operations,” Blondeau says. “So that’s a good 30 years or so of employment from the project.”

The company expects to spend $35 million during the construction phase and it is planning to spend $40 million in lease payments to landowners over the next three decades. According to the company’s website, more than 100,000 homes would be powered by the wind farm in Clay County.

(Reporting by Ryan Long, KICD, Spencer)