October 6, 2008
Massachusetts
A feasibility study says that a 450-foot wind turbine installed on city-owned land could cost about $4.7 million to build, but could produce a revenue stream of about $180,000 per year for the city.
City officials paid a Sandwich-based engineering firm to see if a wind turbine could be installed near the Water Department’s Falulah Water Treatment facility in northwest Fitchburg.
It’s estimated the 1,500 killowatt wind turbine could produce enough power for the entire Water Department, which includes 13 buildings that use electricity.
It would also produce additional power that could either be sold to a power company, or be used for other city-owned buildings, the study found.
“It’s an exciting possibility to not only supply the needs of the Water Department, but it could offset other electric costs in the city,” said Denis Meunier, commissioner of public works, who oversees the Water Department.
Community Development Director David Streb said the next step is to collect wind data on the site for between six and 12 months to determine if there is enough wind to support a turbine.
Streb said he’s hoping to work with Mount Wachusett Community College in Gardner to install a system to monitor wind speeds.
“If we spend that kind of money, you want to make sure there’s the wind the computer models show there is,” Streb said.
David Brooks, a wind analyst for Atlantic Design Engineers, which produced the study, said the site is a prime location for a turbine.
“There’s definitely enough wind there,” Brooks said.
The Massachusetts Technology Collaborative — a quasi-public agency that advocates for renewable energy resources — did a study of the site in 2007, Streb said, and found that the site may not have enough wind to support the cost of a turbine.
Streb said since then oil prices have risen and new energy incentive legislation has been passed by the state government.
Brooks said Atlantic Design Engineers reviews studies the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative has done and updates them.
Brooks said many more cities and towns around the state have taken a second look at wind energy in the last year
“As the price of electricity has gone up, the numbers change and it makes a lot more projects feasible,” Brooks said.
Brooks said a wind turbine in Fitchburg could produce a positive cash flow of about $180,000 annually in year one.
“As soon as the blades start spinning, the cash flow will be a positive,” he said.
The turbine is expected to cost $4.7 million, according to preliminary estimates from the report.
That includes $2.4 million for the parts that make up a wind turbine, the study shows. Other costs include money for the design, construction and maintenance of the machine.
The city could take out a zero percent interest bond, the report recommends, to pay for the cost of installing the turbine.
Brooks said initial estimates show that total payments for the turbine would be about $486,000 per year to cover the debt service for about 15 years.
That includes about $430,000 pay off the debt and about $56,000 per year for maintenance and operation of the turbine.
But the total cost savings and revenue produced would be $669,000.
That includes about $450,000 in annual energy savings from the city producing its own power. The city would also benefit from incentives for having the turbine.
Brooks also said as the city pays off the debt service, it would get more money.
Income for years 16 to 24 — after the debt has been paid off — would jump to $611,758.
The report outlines various state and federal grant programs that are available to offset design and construction costs.
A Lori Grant from the state could cover 75 percent, up to $125,000, for the design of a turbine, the report states.
It will also cover 75 percent, up to $275,000, for the construction of a turbine, according to the study.
Lori Grant applications are due annually in October.
Streb said he’s evaluating if the city will have enough information ready for next month’s deadline to submit an application.
A Clean Renewable Energy bond can be issued from the state government. That allows the city to issue debt at a zero percent interest rate to cover the long-term costs of the project, the feasibility study points out.
The study finds that a 1,500-kilowatt turbine would produce enough energy, and then some, for the entire Water Department.
The turbine would provide 3,329,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year, the study says.
The Falulah Water Treatment facility, the plant closest to the turbine, uses 508,000 kilowatt hours per year.
The entire Water Department, including the Falulah plant, uses 2,225,399 kilowatt hours, according to the study.
Meunier, the public works head, said the department spends about $325,000 on electricity each year.
Streb said new state laws allow the city to use excess power produced by a turbine in other municipal buildings at a fraction of the cost of buying new power.
Alternatively, the excess power could be sold to a power company and generate revenue for the city.
The proposed location of the turbine is east of Ashby West Road and west of Rindge Road in northwest Fitchburg.
The study recommends that the turbine be placed as far west as possible on the city-owned land to catch the most wind.
Henry Sevigny, reservoir guard for the city, showed how the Water Department site could be an attractive place for a turbine, during a tour of the land last week.
“Feel the breeze, it’s constant,” Sevigny said. “There are days when it’s windy here, but you go downtown and there’s nothing.”
The Water Department land houses the Lovell Reservoir and the Falulah Reservoir.
To the west of the reservoirs are two slopes that are tree covered.
The study has recommended the turbine be installed on the further slope away from the reservoirs.
An access road to the site and power lines connecting the turbine to the plant would likely need to be installed, Sevigny said.
The feasibility study compiled by Atlantic Design Engineers shows average wind speeds of between 14.5 and 16.8 miles per hour at 100 meters elevation in the proposed area of the turbine.
According to the study, 95 percent of the Water Department land on the site is undeveloped.
Dense tree cover would diminish the noise and visual effects of the turbine, the study points out. The nearest homes are about 900 feet away, the study shows.
The report even indicates that the site could support multiple turbines.
“In our opinion, favorable siting and adequate wind resources exist for wind turbine development at the Falulah Water Treatment site and could potentially allow for a multiple turbine renewable energy project that could provide offsite electrical benefits to the city owned facilities,” the report states.
Meunier said the city is only looking to install one turbine to start with.
One concern the study points out is that the city’s wind energy zoning ordinance requires that a turbine be 1.5 times its height away from the nearest property line.
The proposed 450 foot turbine would not meet that requirement, the study says.
Streb said the closest road, Thurston Road off Ashby West Road, is less than 1.5 times the proposed tower’s height away. The nearest line, the study says, is about one times the height of the turbine away.
Therefore, a variance to the city’s zoning regulations would need to be given by the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals or Planning Board.
By Brandon Butler
6 October 2008
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