June 25, 2007
Winds of change for Central Massachusetts
By Cory Hopkins
Turbines are popping up like weeds
Call it divine intervention.
Kevin Schulte, founder of Ontario, N.Y.-based Sustainable Energy Developments, had just finished a marketing survey of potential sites in Central Massachusetts for his company's facility-based wind turbine projects. Fourth on his list of folks to call was Holy Name High School, a private Catholic school in Worcester.
Schulte never got around to calling the school to tell them about the potential for wind energy on their breezy Vernon Hill campus.
They called him first.
Late last month, the Worcester City Council unanimously passed a city ordinance that would allow the construction of wind turbines up to 265 feet tall within city limits. Passage of the ordinance will pave the way for construction of a turbine at Holy Name, which will drastically reduce the school's energy costs.
The school will use 54 percent of the energy generated by its proposed turbine, with the rest going into the city's power grid. Holy Name stands to save close to $200,000 per year on energy costs, said Mary Riordan, headmaster at Holy Name.
Logical choice
"The cost of electricity was just ridiculous," said Riordan, a self-confessed "greenie." "We figured there had to be a better way. We looked at solar, but we're in the windiest part of the city. Even on the calmest day, it's still a windy place, so it just seemed logical."
Schulte said the collaboration between his company and Holy Name is only one of several potential projects in the region that he is working on. Expect a huge gust of wind power to hit the region very soon, he said.
"The market for on-site wind power in Central Massachusetts is going to be very big," Schulte said.
So big, in fact, that Schulte plans to open an office in the area as soon as this fall in order to be close to both the Holy Name project and other regional projects his company is consulting on.
Schulte is not alone in seeing the potential for wind power in the area.
Perfectly sited in a hilly region with ample access to the northwesterly prevailing winds, Worcester County already has a number of viable wind energy projects.
And there's more to come.
No longer a novel concept for tree-huggers and environmental activists, wind energy now has real potential to help large facilities stop "blowing" their budgets on higher and higher energy costs.
Schulte said Central and Eastern Massachusetts are ripe for wind development not only because of good access to wind resources both at the coast and in the central foothills, but also because residents are fed up with constantly rising energy costs.
In a study on the state of clean energy in the state, the University of Massachusetts concluded that the cost of wind energy is coming down to meet the cost of gas or coal-fired production. The study concluded that wind power will outpace solar and fuel-cell technologies in terms of total output for at least the next decade.
Schulte said the political climate in the state has shifted, making alternative energies more of a priority.
"The biggest opportunity for wind power is the ability to put turbines right at facilities," Schulte said. "In the U.S., we've never contemplated that as being a strong market, but I've got nine projects in Massachusetts I'm working on. This market for wind turbines is becoming open as we speak."
Windy business
Earlier this month, Westborough-based American Superconductor announced two orders worth more than $1 million apiece for voltage regulation technology it manufactures for use in wind farms in the Midwest. In March, the company supplied similar technology for use in Chinese wind farms.
Clearly, wind is big business.
The Massachusetts Technology Collaborative is the state's development agency for renewable energy initiatives. MTC offers a number of grant programs to help communities and facilities explore their renewable energy options, ranging from funding for feasibility studies to grants and loans for design and construction.
Jim Christo, program director for green buildings and infrastructure for the MTC, said the agency supports all forms of alternative energy, from wind to solar to hydro-electric power, and urges grant applicants to consider which energy solution works best for their specific project.
Recently, he said, he has seen a marked increase in the number of applications for solely wind projects.
"With hydro-power, you need a source of impounded water, so very few sites really have that except for old mill sites. With solar electric power, you can do it anywhere, really, but it's expensive and sometimes the economics of it don't work out," Christo said. "So now, more people are willing to explore wind. There was a hesitancy before, but that seems to have opened up."
Christo explained that smaller organizations such as nonprofits or schools may not qualify for some of the tax breaks that might make solar energy a viable solution for their sites. Additionally, some of those sites may not have the space to build large solar arrays that might produce the same amount of electricity as one wind turbine would.
"If you can install wind, you can install a larger generator than with a (solar) system," Christo said. "Holy Name, for example, probably doesn't have enough room on its roofs to put in enough solar panels to create the same amount of electricity as one 600 kilowatt turbine will."
Christo noted that more than half of the grant applications he receives for feasibility studies are for potential wind applications.
Feasibility studies are currently underway at Staples Inc. in Framingham and both the state correctional facility and Mount Wachusett Community College in Gardner, Christo said. As part of the studies, meteorological towers will be erected at the sites to measure wind speed and determine if the location could support a viable power-generating turbine.
Schulte said more and more sites across the region are realizing their potential for wind power because new technologies and looser regulations have reduced the amount of wind necessary to make a project worthwhile.
"The wind speed that can make a project work has dropped from 16-17 miles per hour down to 12-14," Schulte said. "That opens up a whole lot more sites."
Community efforts
Supplemental, on-site projects of the type being considered at Holy Name and other local facilities go a long way towards reducing energy costs at a certain location. But larger, community oriented projects are also in the works in Central Massachusetts.
The Princeton Municipal Light Department (PMLD), the town's municipal utility, has been operating a wind farm as part of its town power generation since 1984.
The original eight-turbine farm producing 320 kilowatts of power was shut down and dismantled last spring.
The PMLD recently finalized a comprehensive purchase and construction contract with Lumus Construction of Woburn to purchase and erect two 1.5 megawatt German-manufactured turbines for $6.7 million. The new turbines will produce more than 40 percent of the town's energy needs, said Jonathan Fitch, general manager of the PMLD.
Fitch said that while regulations of the type recently passed in Worcester are a good first step on the way to realizing the true commercial viability of wind power, regulating the height and scale of wind turbines constricts the city's ability to generate more than "a token amount of power."
"That type of ordnance will limit commercial development of wind turbines in Worcester," Fitch said. "(Turbines with a maximum height of 265 feet) will generate a token amount of power. It's a start, but it's probably not the most efficient means to get a good amount of energy."
Princeton's turbines, in comparison, will be roughly 340 feet tall. The higher the turbine height, the better the access to wind resources, Fitch explained.
Schulte agreed that the city's height restrictions may preclude it from adopting the most current, efficient technology, but said just opening the door for projects like the one at Holy Name is the important thing.
"The ability to have this project stand ... to expand the use of wind power in the city will be an example for the city to amend the regulations in the future," Schulte said.
Christo agreed, saying the more wind turbines there are, the more comfortable people will become around them.
"Our hope is that as people see more wind turbines in the area, they will become more comfortable with them, and will want more around," Christo said.
Call it divine intervention.
Kevin Schulte, founder of Ontario, N.Y.-based Sustainable Energy Developments, had just finished a marketing survey of potential sites in Central Massachusetts for his company's facility-based wind turbine projects. Fourth on his list of folks to call was Holy Name High School, a private Catholic school in Worcester.
Schulte never got around to calling the school to tell them about the potential for wind energy on their breezy Vernon Hill campus.
They called him first.
Late last month, the Worcester City Council unanimously passed a city ordinance that would allow the construction of wind turbines up to 265 feet tall within city limits. Passage of the ordinance will pave the way for construction of a turbine at Holy Name, which will drastically reduce the school's energy costs.
The school will use 54 percent of the energy generated by its proposed turbine, with the rest going into the city's power grid. Holy Name stands to save close to $200,000 per year on energy costs, said Mary Riordan, headmaster at Holy Name.
Logical choice
"The cost of electricity was just ridiculous," said Riordan, a self-confessed "greenie." "We figured there had to be a better way. We looked at solar, but we're in the windiest part of the city. Even on the calmest day, it's still a windy place, so it just seemed logical."
Schulte said the collaboration between his company and Holy Name is only one of several potential projects in the region that he is working on. Expect a huge gust of wind power to hit the region very soon, he said.
"The market for on-site wind power in Central Massachusetts is going to be very big," Schulte said.
So big, in fact, that Schulte plans to open an office in the area as soon as this fall in order to be close to both the Holy Name project and other regional projects his company is consulting on.
Jim Christo, program director for green buildings and infrastructure for the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative.
Perfectly sited in a hilly region with ample access to the northwesterly prevailing winds, Worcester County already has a number of viable wind energy projects.
And there's more to come.
No longer a novel concept for tree-huggers and environmental activists, wind energy now has real potential to help large facilities stop "blowing" their budgets on higher and higher energy costs.
Schulte said Central and Eastern Massachusetts are ripe for wind development not only because of good access to wind resources both at the coast and in the central foothills, but also because residents are fed up with constantly rising energy costs.
In a study on the state of clean energy in the state, the University of Massachusetts concluded that the cost of wind energy is coming down to meet the cost of gas or coal-fired production. The study concluded that wind power will outpace solar and fuel-cell technologies in terms of total output for at least the next decade.
Schulte said the political climate in the state has shifted, making alternative energies more of a priority.
"The biggest opportunity for wind power is the ability to put turbines right at facilities," Schulte said. "In the U.S., we've never contemplated that as being a strong market, but I've got nine projects in Massachusetts I'm working on. This market for wind turbines is becoming open as we speak."
Windy business
Earlier this month, Westborough-based American Superconductor announced two orders worth more than $1 million apiece for voltage regulation technology it manufactures for use in wind farms in the Midwest. In March, the company supplied similar technology for use in Chinese wind farms.
Clearly, wind is big business.
The Massachusetts Technology Collaborative is the state's development agency for renewable energy initiatives. MTC offers a number of grant programs to help communities and facilities explore their renewable energy options, ranging from funding for feasibility studies to grants and loans for design and construction.
Jim Christo, program director for green buildings and infrastructure for the MTC, said the agency supports all forms of alternative energy, from wind to solar to hydro-electric power, and urges grant applicants to consider which energy solution works best for their specific project.
Recently, he said, he has seen a marked increase in the number of applications for solely wind projects.
Mary Riordan, headmaster at Holy Name High School.
Christo explained that smaller organizations such as nonprofits or schools may not qualify for some of the tax breaks that might make solar energy a viable solution for their sites. Additionally, some of those sites may not have the space to build large solar arrays that might produce the same amount of electricity as one wind turbine would.
"If you can install wind, you can install a larger generator than with a (solar) system," Christo said. "Holy Name, for example, probably doesn't have enough room on its roofs to put in enough solar panels to create the same amount of electricity as one 600 kilowatt turbine will."
Christo noted that more than half of the grant applications he receives for feasibility studies are for potential wind applications.
Feasibility studies are currently underway at Staples Inc. in Framingham and both the state correctional facility and Mount Wachusett Community College in Gardner, Christo said. As part of the studies, meteorological towers will be erected at the sites to measure wind speed and determine if the location could support a viable power-generating turbine.
Schulte said more and more sites across the region are realizing their potential for wind power because new technologies and looser regulations have reduced the amount of wind necessary to make a project worthwhile.
"The wind speed that can make a project work has dropped from 16-17 miles per hour down to 12-14," Schulte said. "That opens up a whole lot more sites."
Community efforts
Supplemental, on-site projects of the type being considered at Holy Name and other local facilities go a long way towards reducing energy costs at a certain location. But larger, community oriented projects are also in the works in Central Massachusetts.
The Princeton Municipal Light Department (PMLD), the town's municipal utility, has been operating a wind farm as part of its town power generation since 1984.
Artist rendering of what planned turbines in Princeton would look like.
The PMLD recently finalized a comprehensive purchase and construction contract with Lumus Construction of Woburn to purchase and erect two 1.5 megawatt German-manufactured turbines for $6.7 million. The new turbines will produce more than 40 percent of the town's energy needs, said Jonathan Fitch, general manager of the PMLD.
Fitch said that while regulations of the type recently passed in Worcester are a good first step on the way to realizing the true commercial viability of wind power, regulating the height and scale of wind turbines constricts the city's ability to generate more than "a token amount of power."
"That type of ordnance will limit commercial development of wind turbines in Worcester," Fitch said. "(Turbines with a maximum height of 265 feet) will generate a token amount of power. It's a start, but it's probably not the most efficient means to get a good amount of energy."
Princeton's turbines, in comparison, will be roughly 340 feet tall. The higher the turbine height, the better the access to wind resources, Fitch explained.
Schulte agreed that the city's height restrictions may preclude it from adopting the most current, efficient technology, but said just opening the door for projects like the one at Holy Name is the important thing.
"The ability to have this project stand ... to expand the use of wind power in the city will be an example for the city to amend the regulations in the future," Schulte said.
Christo agreed, saying the more wind turbines there are, the more comfortable people will become around them.
"Our hope is that as people see more wind turbines in the area, they will become more comfortable with them, and will want more around," Christo said.
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