August 12, 2011
Massachusetts

MBTA plans wind turbine at commuter rail facility

By Amanda Cedrone, Globe Correspondent, www.boston.com 12 August 2011

The MBTA has chosen a contractor to erect a 120-foot-high, 100-kilowatt wind turbine near the commuter rail station in Kingston, officials said.

SPS New England submitted the lowest bid at $334,334.50, the MBTA said today in a statement. The project will be located at the layover facility near the station, a set of tracks where trains are parked overnight.

When the project is completed at the end of the year, the turbine is expected to generate enough energy to cover 65 percent of the Kingston station’s power needs, such as the parking lot and platform lighting, and electric power for parked locomotives with engines switched off.

Construction will begin next month.

A second wind turbine is expected to be built next year at the Bridgewater commuter rail station. Estimates say that the turbines will save the MBTA about $100,000 in electricity costs annually, MBTA General Manager Richard Davey said.

“As part of our efforts to implement green efforts here at MBTA, we’ve sought ways to improve our renewable energy portfolio. And one way we’ve done that is win federal grants to have wind turbines installed on our property,” Davey said.


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/08/12/mbta-plans-wind-turbine-at-commuter-rail-facility/