January 24, 2008
Massachusetts

Hingham preparing to test potential wind turbine site

HINGHAM – The installing of a wind-measuring device has begun at the capped landfill on Hobart Street.

With town and state permits in hand, the municipal lighting plant is installing an anemometer atop a 170-foot pole. The wind-speed data will determine whether the landfill is a good location for a wind turbine, which would provide energy for the town.

Lighting plant general manager John Tzimorangas said bad weather has slowed progress, but the placing of foundation blocks to which guy wires will be anchored has started.

If the weather stays good enough this week, the block installation could be finished by Friday, he said.

Once the blocks are in place, the pole and anemometer could be up within seven days – again, weather permitting, Tzimorangas said.

Last fall, the zoning board of appeals granted a special permit for the anemometer project. Because construction is happening on a landfill, approval from the state Department of Environmental Protection was also required.

The anemometer will remain for up to 12 months to record data through four seasons.

The lighting plant has selected Lighthouse Electric of Rhode Island to supply and install the anemometer and analyze the collected data. A planned cellular connection would send data from the anemometer to the light plant. Residents may be able to view the data on the light plant’s web site.

The lighting plant and the Hingham Wind Committee have been in discussion about the potential of wind power as an alternate energy source for the town. They co-sponsored a forum last April to introduce the concept to residents.

The landfill was one of three sites deemed feasible for a turbine that would not interfere with neighbors. The others were the South Shore Country Club and the South Shore Industrial Park in South Hingham.

By Karen Goulart

The Patriot Ledger

24 January 2008


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2008/01/24/hingham-preparing-to-test-potential-wind-turbine-site/