(Radio Iowa) – Officials in a northwest Iowa county have approved a plan for road improvements and repairs as 259 wind turbines are removed from a wind farm in Buena Vista County and replaced with more energy-efficient turbines. Two wind farms near Alta have been operating since 1999 and Allete Clean Energy, the current operator, expects to make the switch outs in 2027. Some gravel road intersections may have to be widened for the project — and the county will bill Allete for the work.

Buena Vista County Engineer Bret Wilkinson says he and the county attorney reviewed the details in the written agreement with Allete. “It spells out in here fairly well what will be the procedures will be during the project and after regarding the roadways,” he says, “do a few things on both sides to make their life simpler and to make our life simpler during this construction project.”

The company is replacing the towers as well as the turbines at its two wind farms in Buena Vista County. The new towers will be shorter than the existing towers.