WESTPORT — After plans fell through for a 120-foot wind turbine behind Town Hall, the Alternative Energy Committee has focused its attention on other locations in town where a larger turbine could be built.
The committee is considering locations in Portsmouth, R.I., and Hull for construction of a turbine. It is also looking at Dartmouth, where the town is planning construction of two massive towers at a wastewater treatment plant off Chase Road. Sites under consideration are the landfill on Hixbridge Road and town-owned land behind the fire station under construction west of Route 88.
Locations near the ocean would be best for energy generation, but no specific sites are being considered, said David Dionne, chairman of the Alternative Energy Committee, which is working with a consultant. “It’s a no-brainer to think of getting closer to the water,” he said.
An effort to build a turbine to power Town Hall began after voters approved $63,400 for such a project at the May 2007 Town Meeting, a decision that the Finance Committee and Board of Selectmen advised against. For nearly two years, the Alternative Energy Committee and turbine supporters fought to get a contract signed by selectmen and a Plymouth contractor.
That proposal came to a quiet end this spring when the committee voted to return the money to the town’s general fund. Dionne said at the time that the committee had its sights set on a larger project. “All the stars are aligned at this moment to do something substantial,” he said then.
A turbine proposal would likely receive more support now. Selectmen Chairman Steven Ouellette said the biggest complaint he heard about the plan was that the proposed turbine wasn’t large enough, though it was the largest turbine the town could receive a grant for at the time.
A proposal for a 10-kilowatt turbine was more of a “demonstration,” Dionne said, meant to showcase the town’s commitment to going green rather than being a money-saving measure. “Today, the ground has shifted beneath our feet. Everyone is building much, much larger, commercial-size ones,” he said.
Portsmouth’s turbines dwarf the size of the one proposed in Westport. Portsmouth Abbey’s tower is 660 kilowatts and 240 feet high. One built by the town is 336 feet high and 1.5 megawatts — a capacity 150 times larger than Westport’s would have had.
Two Dartmouth turbines would be 470 feet high, each with a 1.65-megawatt capacity.
Wind data gathered from a test tower west of Lees Market on Main Road showed that the two sites under consideration off Hixbridge Road have energy production potential at least as good as Portsmouth’s, Dionne said.
One obstacle is cost, which is estimated at $3 million to $4 million. The Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust offers $570,000 for public-entity turbines more than 600 kilowatts if a project meets feasibility guidelines. Spokeswoman Emily Dahl said the trust has seen “a lot of interest” in so-called community-scale turbines, those that produce more than 100 kilowatts.
By Grant Welker
Herald News Staff Reporter
www.heraldnews.com
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