Seven Wind Energy Projects Receive $700,000 in Grants From MassCEC

The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) today announced grants totaling more than $700,000 to support seven wind energy projects under the Commonwealth Wind Community Scale Wind Initiative.
“With two dozen wind turbines already in place across the state, Massachusetts communities and businesses clearly recognize the important role wind power has to play in the clean energy future Governor Patrick envisions for the Commonwealth,” said Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Richard Sullivan, who serves as chairman of MassCEC’s board of directors. “I am pleased to announce the latest round of Community Scale Wind grants to help more responsibly sited wind projects get off the ground.”
The awards announced today include one design and construction grant totaling more than 3.2 megawatts (MW) in capacity, and six feasibility studies for wind energy that would total between 5.4 MW and 8.3 MW in capacity if built. The seven grants go to private and public projects, including cities and towns. The Commonwealth Wind Community Scale Wind initiative is a program of MassCEC’s Renewable Energy Generation division, which is funded by the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust Fund. 
“The Community Scale Wind program is helping cities and towns across the Commonwealth incorporate responsibly sited wind projects into plans to develop diverse sources of clean renewable energy,” said MassCEC Executive Director Patrick Cloney. “I’m proud to see these communities engaged in a process to make wind power part of their sustainable energy future.”
The wind project receiving a design and construction grant is in Dartmouth. The six projects receiving feasibility awards will support efforts in the towns of Becket, Blandford, Harwich, Hopkinton, Heath and Holden.
Following Commonwealth Solar – the first MassCEC program defined by technology type – Commonwealth Wind is MassCEC’s grant program that supports responsibly sited wind energy projects. Commonwealth Wind’s Community Scale program supports wind projects of at least 100 kilowatts in size; its Micro Wind program provides rebates for the installation of wind projects less than 100 kilowatts, typically for residential, small commercial or agricultural sites.
The goal of the Commonwealth Wind Incentive Program is to assist responsibly-sited wind energy projects of all scales in achieving successful and timely installation in support of Governor Patrick’s goal of having 2,000 megawatts (MW) of wind power capacity installed in the Commonwealth by 2020.  
Details of the grants can be found below.
Design & Construction Awards

Dartmouth, Town of

 

 

The Town of Dartmouth plans to install two 1.6 MW wind turbines at the Town Water Division’s Well Site and Water Treatment Facility located on Chase Road. Dartmouth will work with its consultants, STV, Inc. and COWI, to obtain all final permits, update the existing acoustic study, conduct a final evaluation of financing options, complete final design and procure and install two IEC Class III turbines. Dartmouth expects to complete the installation by September 2012.

 

Project Type

Public

Location

Waste Water Treatment Plant  in Dartmouth, MA

Technology

Two 1.6 MW Wind Turbines

D&C Grant

$400,000

 

 

 

Feasibility Study Awards

Becket, Town of

 

The Town of Becket will explore the feasibility of a net metered 900kW community wind project on private land off of Tower Road in Becket. The town will work with its consultant Sustainable Energy Developments Inc. to conduct a feasibility study to evaluate the potential for installing a turbine at this site to serve municipal loads and offset electrical utility expenses on town-owned property. The study will include an in-depth analysis of siting, turbine performance, economics, buildability, interconnection, permitting, capital costs, financing and ownership options.

 

The town has partnered with the site owner, The School at Jacob’s Pillow, and Becket-Chimney Corners YMCA. These partners will share in potential energy savings and assist in the financial requirements of this project. Such an arrangement will allow the town and its partners to share the most substantial benefits of a wind energy project while balancing the costs of evaluating and identifying the most attractive development scenario(s). 

 

 

Project Type

Public

Location

Becket, MA

Technology

900 kW Wind Turbine

FS Grant

$59,940

 

 

 

Blandford Ski Area

BNE Energy is partnering with the Springfield Ski Club to explore the feasibility of a wind energy project at the Blandford Ski Area. The proposed project would consist of a single wind turbine of between 750 kW and 1.6 MW. Some of the power generated would be used on-site (primarily to support winter operations at the ski facility) and the remainder would be sold to the electrical grid either as wholesale or net-metered generation. The feasibility study will thoroughly investigate the potential for the project and will include a wind resource assessment, an environmental analysis, an economic analysis, an electrical engineering assessment, and acoustic and shadow flicker studies.

 

Project Type

Non-Profit

Location

Blandford, MA

Technology

750 - 1600 kW Wind Turbine

FS Grant

$40,000

 

 

 

Cape Cod Regional Technical High School

 

The Cape Cod Regional Technical High School, along with its consultant Sustainable Energy Developments Inc., will conduct an in-depth feasibility study to explore the possibility of installing a 900 kW wind turbine on the school’s campus. The study will include the investigation of a third party ownership structure in which the third party will sell 50 percent or more of the generated electricity to Cape Cod Tech. As the end user, Cape Cod Tech will offset electrical utility expenses at the public educational facility located at 351 Pleasant Lake Ave. in Harwich, as well as reduce natural gas consumption in its tri-generation unit, which currently provides 35 to 50 percent of Cape Cod Tech’s electricity requirements. .

 

Project Type

Public

Location

Harwich, MA

Technology

900 kW Wind Turbine

FS Grant

$61,750

 

 

 

 

EMC Corporation

EMC Corporation will conduct a feasibility study to explore options for wind development at the Waste Water Treatment Facility at its Hopkinton Campus. EMC is proposing to install two utility-scale wind turbines. As part of the Feasibility Study, EMC and its consultant, Beals and Thomas, plan to obtain wind data via the installation of a 50-meter temporary meteorological test tower (MET Tower). The feasibility study will include an analysis of the onsite wind monitoring data, an assessment of environmental, electrical, and economic aspects of the proposed project, as well as a detailed acoustic study.

Project Type

Private

Location

Hopkinton, MA

Technology

900 kW – 2,000 kW Wind Turbine

FS Grant

$44,000

 

 

 

 

Harvey Energy LLC

Harvey Energy LLC, in partnership with the owner of property located at 84 Hosmer Road in Heath, will study the feasibility of installing at least one land-based wind turbine in the 1.5 MW to 2.0 MW range. The feasibility study will evaluate the technical and economic viability of installing a wind turbine generator as a net-metered renewable energy facility under the Green Communities Act. Harvey Energy LLC and its consultants will confirm the overall validity of the project through an interconnection analysis, a detailed acoustic study, public outreach efforts, and the collection of onsite wind data with a meteorological tower.

 

Project Type

Private

Location

Heath, MA

Technology

1.5 MW – 2.0 MW Wind Turbine

FS Grant

$55,000

 

 

 

 

Massachusetts Broken Stone Company

 

The Massachusetts Broken Stone Company (MBS) will perform an in-depth feasibility study to investigate the possibility of installing a 450 kW to 900 kW wind turbine project at its Holden Trap Rock facility/quarry located at 2077 Main Street in Holden. MBS will explore project scenarios including the installation of a 100 percent behind the meter turbine and the installation of a larger turbine that would be partially behind the meter power and partially net metered. MBS will work with its consultant, Sustainable Energy Developments Inc., to analyze wind resources, environmental considerations, and electrical interconnection and economics.

Project Type

Private

Location

Holden, MA

Technology

450 kW – 900 kW Wind Turbine

FS Grant

$40,000