ENVIRONMENT | Protecting our natural resources
13 February 2008
Massachusetts Town Reaps Rewards from the Wind
Coastal community of Hull pioneers wind power to save money, environment
Washington -- Wind power is nothing new for Hull, Massachusetts, whose residents point out that the town's peninsula has been known as "Windmill Point" since the 1820s. Those early windmills are gone, but today Hull, with a population of 11,000, is operating two state-of-the-art wind turbines that have become a model for local community engagement in the use of clean, renewable energy.
Hull's wind turbines are not themselves novel at a time when wind power is the nation's fastest-growing energy source, but the community's commitment has garnered local and national recognition along with considerable energy savings.
In 2007, the town received the Wind Power Pioneer Award from the U.S. Department of Energy for "advancing the use of wind power in a coastal community."
In the early 1980s, Hull installed a relatively small wind turbine that was destroyed by a storm in 1997. That did not deter a citizen's group from organizing in support of wind power. The volunteer group conducted detailed studies of the costs, benefits and environmental effects of a new and improved wind turbine that were discussed throughout the town.
This pattern of close and continuing involvement has proven critical to Hull's continuing support for the project.
Although often called windmills, the current generation of wind-power installations more accurately is termed wind turbines, with blades that function much like airplane wings and can take advantage of variable wind conditions to spin a generator and produce electricity.
Hull selected a model from the Danish company Vesta. The distinctive white 50-meter structure, whose three rotors span 47 meters, has a generating capacity of 66 kilowatts. Within its first year of operation in 2002, "Hull 1" became a point of community pride and a navigation landmark for boaters -- and cut the town's street lighting bill from $150,000 a year to zero.
"Hull Wind 2," which began operating in 2006 with a power capacity of 1.8 megawatts, meets more than 10 percent of the town's electricity needs. Hull now is planning to install four offshore turbines that promise to generate 15 megawatts, more than enough for the town's entire electrical needs.
"The Hull experience shows it is easier to win approval for wind projects if the benefits are enjoyed close to home. That way the project is ours, not theirs. We're the investors and we're the beneficiaries," Malcolm Brown, an advocate for the program, told the magazine E/Environment.
Says one town official, "We get the financial benefit. Plus, because it's a green source of energy, the turbine becomes a focus of goodwill for the town."
MASSACHUSETTS TECHNOLOGY COLLABORATIVE
At the state level, the Massachusetts Technology Cooperative (MTC) has funded more than 700 renewable energy projects in the last six years that encompass wind, solar, efficient "green buildings" and similar initiatives.
MTC administers a Renewable Energy Trust, funded by a small surcharge on each kilowatt hour of electricity. Through June 2007, the trust has supported projects with a total capacity of 85.6 megawatts of clean energy, according to the latest annual report.
"These projects range from solar panels installed in private homes to large commercial projects involving 'green' buildings," says Warren Leon, director of the Renewable Energy Trust.
Through its Community Wind Collaborative, MTC is working with more than 30 cities and towns to plan and install wind turbines -- including a $1.7 million grant to assist Hull with its offshore turbine project.
One difficulty, says Leon, is that locating and gaining permits for turbines can be a far lengthier process in densely populated Massachusetts than in the open spaces of the West.
Anther problem, Leon adds, is that demand now is so high that there is a shortage of wind turbines on the market.
"Manufacturers would rather sell 100 turbines to one company than one turbine to 100 customers," Leon says. On the other hand, he points out that the shortage is probably temporary because new manufacturers are entering the booming wind turbine market.
U.S. WIND POWER
Wind energy is expanding at a rate of 30 percent to 40 percent annually across the country, according to the Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. On a typical day, the United States today generates more than 10,000 megawatts of electricity from the wind, enough to power 2.5 million average American homes. (See “Wind Power World’s Fastest-Growing New Electricity Source.”)
The nation's wind energy research is centered at the Department of Energy's National Wind Technology Center located near Boulder, Colorado.
The Energy Department is cooperating internationally as well, and in 2007 signed an agreement to collaborate with a leading research institution, Denmark's Risø National Laboratory, "in areas such a meteorology, aerodynamics, wind turbine structures and materials, control systems, and electrical-grid integration." (See “U.S., EU Expanding Cooperation on Environmental Research.”)
Additional information is available on the Web sites of Hull Wind, the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
