Wind turbine sought for Weymouth air station golf course
WEYMOUTH — The company redeveloping the South Weymouth Naval Air Station wants permission to install a wind turbine to supply power to an 18-hole golf course that is planned for the property.
The request comes three years after LNR Property Corp. turned down a request from the Weymouth Town Council to erect on the base a device that would determine if wind speeds were high enough to support turbines.
At the time, LNR said years of previous military wind studies had showed the base was a “poor location for wind power generation.”
“We asked for $9,000 to do a wind survey, and they came back and said, ‘no wind, no wind, no wind,’” town councilor Kenneth DiFazio said. “Here we are three years later, and now they put in a document that says they want an exemption to be able to put in a turbine.”
LNR’s request is contained in a permit application to the state’s Natural Heritage Program, which outlines how the developer will preserve sensitive wildlife habitat and vegetation in the eastern part of the base where the golf course is planned.
The application asks for the right to “install wind turbines and solar panels within the Restricted Parcel for the energy needs of the Golf Facilities.”
LNR spokesman Bill Ryan said the company declined the 2006 Weymouth Town Council request to measure wind speeds because the feeling was the council was pushing to build an entire commercial wind farm on the property.
“Which was and is preposterous,” Ryan said of a wind farm. “It could well be that a wind turbine could support the very limited energy needs of the golf course.”
The requested exemption would allow the golf course developer, Leominster-based Liscotti Development, to incorporate wind energy in its design. John Scribner, a project manager at Liscotti, said the company is still evaluating several ways of powering the golf course.
“We’re looking at several (green energy) measures, whether it be solar, wind or geothermal,” he said.
Scribner said design of the golf course has yet to start, but the company hopes to begin constructing it this year.
DiFazio said he would have liked to have seen multiple wind turbines on the property.
“We decided that this looks like a feasible place,” he said.
The 1,400-acre base will be redeveloped into a residential and commercial complex called SouthField, a development plan approved by voters and officials in Weymouth, Rockland and Abington in 2005.
Adding a wind turbine to that plan would likely require SouthField proponents to go back before the three towns to approve what would likely be seen as a significant change to the plan.
By Jack Encarnacao
21 February 2009
Tags: Wind power, Wind energy
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