Barton Malow is proud to be part of Michigan’s clean energy future and is set to complete our largest renewable energy project since entering the market in 2008. The DTE Energy Meridian Wind Park in mid-Michigan has hit peak construction and is expected to be fully operational in Spring 2022. Located throughout Porter, Mount Haley, and Jonesfield townships, the Meridian Wind project will be one of the largest wind parks in the state. Once operational, Meridian’s 77 wind turbines will generate enough clean energy to power more than 78,000 homes.
Civil construction
Following the completion of the laydown yard, our teams began paving access roads and temporary intersections. In this rural area, roads had to be altered to accommodate the delivery of the massive turbines. More than 27 miles of access roads have been built to allow project teams access to the final turbine locations.
Foundations
The turbines aren’t the only impressive aspect of this project, especially when it comes to size. 77 foundations, each 65-foot-diameter, must be built to support the turbines, with about 450 yards of concrete for each foundation.
A Liebherr LR 1600 and a Manitowoc 2250 are the two main cranes in use, along with nearly a dozen smaller support cranes. Turbine installation continued throughout the fall and was completed in November.
Substation and transmission line
A new substation within the project footprint will be built to collect power from the wind turbines. This substation will house electrical equipment to direct the energy through a new eight-mile transmission line. This line will deliver the power to a substation in an adjacent township connected to the grid. In addition to collecting and distributing power, the substation also acts as the brain of the project, housing critical control and communication equipment that allows remote operation and monitoring of each of the 77 turbines.
Planning and safety
Covering an area of 51 square miles, this project requires extraordinary planning, logistics coordination, and safety awareness. With about 220 team members on site daily and spread throughout, communication is key to a successful project. Every morning, crews meet to discuss and plan their daily assignments of which turbine site(s) they will work on for the day.
This project crew is composed primarily of local mid-Michigan professionals who are proud to work in their home state. After the floods in Midland County in 2020, this project is helping the community restore and recover by bringing revenue and jobs to the area.
