Construction of a wind farm in eastern Potter County is expected to get underway this year and be operational in 2018.

Big Level Wind LLC, a subsidiary of Walden Green Energy LLC, a privately held New York-based wind development company, plans to build 25 wind turbines in Hector Township, said John Soininen of Walden Green Energy.

“We leased just under 6,800 acres of land from private landowners and the project will have a footprint of approximately 240 of those leased acres,” he told The Era on Wednesday.

Original plans called for a total of 26 wind turbines to be built on about 200 acres of private lands in the township near the border of Tioga County. But a lawsuit between Big Level Wind LLC and JKLM Energy LLC, a natural gas development and production company headquartered in Wexford, changed those plans. The companies since have resolved litigation and reached an agreement on the mutual use of the property.

More details on the major project will be made available when the final schedule is set, Soininen said.

“It’s great that Hector Township and Potter County are going to realize the benefits from both of these energy projects without further delay,” said Jack Kenworthy, Walden’s head of development. “We have always been confident that this site could support both wind energy and gas facilities, and this agreement with JKLM proves that out. We look forward to working with JKLM on this site.”

JKLM officials also shared some sentiments.

“When we sat down together and looked hard at this site, both sides were able to make some accommodations that resulted in an agreement for both projects to move forward without further conflict,” said Jefferson Long, JKLM’s vice president of land. “Working on integrating wind and gas facilities on a single site was a new process for both companies, but we worked it out and look forward to continued cooperation with Walden.”

JKLM will begin construction after the wind farm is completed.

“Together, these two projects will bring substantial revenue to the local communities, as well as stable, low-cost domestic energy to the region,” company officials said in a prepared statement.

Potter County Commissioner Paul Heimel said the responsibility and authority with the Big Level project lies with the township government. He said that the county has minimal involvement.

“In the early stages, the Big Level Wind advance men shared some preliminary plans with our board as a courtesy, but all communications since that time have been made with the Planning Department/Planning Commission to assure compliance with the Potter County Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance (SALDO), and with the Potter County Conservation District for the required soil erosion and sedimentation control permits,” he said. “From my understanding, some provisions of the county’s SALDO do not apply because the Hector Township Board of Supervisors has adopted its own SALDO and the municipal regulations, under commonwealth law, have primacy.”