A Chicago company is interested in building a large wind farm — possibly in Otoe or Cass county — to provide renewable energy to the Omaha Public Power District.

Midwest Wind Energy obtained “exclusive options” from landowners covering more than 6,000 acres near Douglas and Burr in Otoe County and about 5,000 acres near Plattsmouth, said Mike Donahue, executive vice president of the company.

Donahue said the company is looking at both counties, which are within OPPD’s service territory, and sites elsewhere, including Iowa and Kansas, in an attempt to win a renewable energy contract with the utility.

OPPD has asked developers to submit proposals to supply 80 megawatts of wind generation. The deadline for proposals is Oct. 10.

Donahue said the Cass and Otoe sites would be submitted to OPPD. If one is chosen, the second may be developed later. He said they are viewed as two separate projects.

On Tuesday, Midwest Wind Energy unveiled plans to build an 80-megawatt wind farm to the Otoe County Board and asked commissioners for a letter of support. A similar request will be submitted to the Cass County Board.

Otoe County commissioners voted 3-0 to endorse the $160 million project, said Pat Haverty, executive director of River Country Economic Development Corp., based in Nebraska City.

A Midwest Wind Energy representative plans to meet with Haverty’s group at 7 a.m. Wednesday to discuss the project.

A wind farm would be good news for Otoe County because it could bring in a significant amount of money during construction and result in five to eight long-term jobs, Haverty said.

Donahue estimates a $160 million wind turbine project — to be called the Burr Ridge Wind Farm — would mean about $24 million locally during construction and about $6 million in property taxes to Otoe County over five years.

Donahue said Otoe and Cass counties are good locations because they are close to OPPD’s transmission system. The utility recently completed a high-voltage power line from Nebraska City to Lincoln.

Southeast Nebraska does not have the strongest winds in the state. Those areas are generally in northeast and north-central Nebraska. But Donahue said strong winds are not that important when you consider the overall picture.

“You have to look at wind resources in the context of the service territory and the transmission system where you propose to interconnect,” Donahue said. “A lot of the better wind resources in Nebraska are in locations where you may not be able to provide firm transmission into the OPPD system.”

Midwest Wind Energy has already established a presence in Nebraska, which ranks sixth nationally for wind potential. The company is building the 80-megawatt Elkhorn Ridge Wind Farm north of  Bloomfield, which will interconnect into the Nebraska Public Power District’s transmission system. It will have 27 wind turbines on 3,400 acres.

According to its Web site, Midwest Wind Energy also wants to build a 500-megawatt Grande Prairie wind farm northeast of O’Neill and the 100-megawatt Laredo Ridge Wind Farm northeast of Petersburg.

OPPD spokesman Mike Jones said the utility wants to add more wind energy to expand its power generation portfolio. The utility has one turbine near Valley, which it built in conjunction with Valmont Industries.

“There are people who have said we need to take a look at renewables,” he said. Those people include the OPPD board of directors and customers. “It’s something we want to do and we’re going to do it.”

 Jones said the utility does not want to build a wind farm and it will be up to developers to tell OPPD where they are going to build a wind farm and how they plan to deliver the power.

Jones did not know how many developers have responded to the utility’s request for proposals, adding that it’s the utility's policy not to discuss such information.

 OPPD management will evaluate proposals and may select one to submit to its board for approval. Jones said the wind farm does not have to be within the district’s boundaries, which include seven counties in Southeast Nebraska: Saunders, Cass, Otoe, Johnson, Nemaha, Pawnee and Richardson.

“We’re going to leave it up to the developer … We haven’t made any commitment about locating anything — anywhere,” Jones said. “As we get proposals, we will evaluate them.”

Reach Algis J. Laukaitis at 402-473-7243 or alaukaitis@journalstar.com.