BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) -- North Dakota regulators say they are working to ease concerns at the Grand Forks Air Force Base about whether the state's burgeoning wind power industry could interfere with its radar installations.
The state Public Service Commission is meeting with base and county officials Wednesday in Grand Forks County's office building, Commissioner Tony Clark said.
The spin of wind turbines can interfere with sensitive radar, according to a report commissioned by the federal Department of Homeland Security. The report suggests improvements to aging radar installations would help to solve the problem.
"Aircraft targets and, to some extent, weather features ... can be temporarily lost, fail to be located, shadowed by the radar signature of the turbine farm, or misidentified," the report says. "The wind turbines may also lead to false detection of aircraft."
A British study concluded the problems could be reduced or eliminated by changing a wind project's layout or adding radar installations or software filters.
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Clark said the commission has consulted officials at Minot Air Force Base to allay any concerns about the region's wind farm developments.
In northeastern North Dakota, a wind project near Langdon is one of the state's largest, and Clark said developers have been eyeing projects in Nelson County and western Grand Forks County.
The Grand Forks base is assuming a new role as host for drone aircraft that often fly at low altitudes and could complicate nearby wind projects, Clark said.
"We don't want to do anything that harms the mission of that base," he said.
