September 23, 2010
Rhode Island

Turbines planned on waterfront

By Alisha A. Pina, Journal Staff Writer, The Providence Journal, www.projo.com 23 September 2010

PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island’s first wind farm will not be off Block Island. Instead, it will be a dramatic addition to the capital city’s waterfront.

Three, 360-foot tall turbines – the largest in the state – will be built at the Narragansett Bay Commission’s Fields Point Wastewater Treatment Facility. The team for the $12-million project includes Gilbane Building Co., Atlantic Design Engineers, Glynn Electric, Barnhart Crane & Rigging, Earth Systems Global Inc. and Terracon.

The commission estimates that at that height, the turbines will generate 1,500 kilowatts and supply 55 to 60 percent of the current power demand at its facility. The electricity is valued at more than $500,000 per year and will offset 3,000 tons a year of carbon dioxide that would have been released from fossil fuel.

A second alternative-energy project for the commission’s East Providence plant will have similar benefits.

The commission recently awarded Brown and Caldwell, of California, a contract to design a biogas cogeneration facility at the Bucklin Point wastewater-treatment plant. The commission said Bucklin uses a combination of biogas and natural gas to fuel its boilers, but a switch to the cogeneration equipment could generate up to 50 percent of the electricity and heat needed for the facility.

The plan still needs approval from the Department of Administration, the commission said, before construction can begin.

The project is expected to be in place by spring 2012; a completion date for the biogas design was not given.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2010/09/23/turbines-planned-on-waterfront/