$57M 12-Turbine Wind Farm Planned In Town Of Douglas | Brothers from Hull are architects for 24 MW project
In 2001, long before the skyrocketing fuel prices of mid-2008 drove interest in alternative energy up, the town of Hull built a 660-kilowatt windmill near its high school, and in 2006 it added a 1.8 megawatt turbine. Two brothers who live in town, Maurizio and Ernesto Caparrotta, watched the projects with interest.
Now, Maurizio Caparrotta is proposing what would be another pioneering effort for the state, a $57 million, 12-turbine, 24 megawatt wind farm to be built in Douglas. His brother, who is president of Weymouth real estate development company Seven Hills Corp., is helping negotiate the permitting process.
So far, Ernesto Caparrotta said, it’s not completely clear what permits the project will need. He said he’s working now to determine whether the Massachusetts Environmental Protection Agency needs to approve the development and whether there is any priority wildlife habitat in the area, which would mean other precautions are required.
Another subject that must be settled before the windmills start going up is how the power will be sold, something Caparrotta said the lenders who hope to finance the project are waiting on. He said it may be possible to sell to National Grid, which sells most electricity locally, to ISO New England, which runs the power grid for the region, or more directly to nearby towns, with the consent of National Grid.
Local Perks
Harold R. Davis, chairman of the Douglas Economic Development Commission, which has endorsed the wind farm idea, said part of its appeal that it might help reduce electricity costs in the local area.
The developers are scheduling meetings with local residents to explain the project. Caparrotta said the first will be in Webster in February and another will be in Douglas in early March.
Davis said members of his commission had to think hard about supporting the use of the 216-acre site for the wind farm. The group has been working for the past seven years or so to develop the location, including having a $50,000 study done. It’s an expedited permitting site under the state’s Chapter 43D law, and Davis said the commission had hoped to get something there that would generate significant tax revenue for the town.
The wind farm isn’t ideal in that regard, Davis said, but it may be the best the commission can hope for. Davis said he’s also interested in the Caparrottas’ “phase two” plans for the site, which could include a green industrial park with functions like solar panel production.
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