Allen Farm, Chilmark
Allen Farm received a $41,000 grant last week for a study to determine the feasibility of erecting multiple 900-kW wind turbines to serve current onsite electrical loads as well as the electrical loads created by a proposed community-supported agriculture program (CSA) in which customers contract for a share of a farmer's production over the growing season. The 100-acre Allen Farm raises beef, lamb, and chicken, along with growing market greens in the winter. The farm's goal is to study the feasibility of a wind project, serving to generate electricity based on the Massachusetts Electric Farm Model (farm-based wind turbines meeting on-site and remote electrical loads).
1 Aquinnah site near town hall: Feasibility study underway.
2 Wampanoag Tribal headquarters site: Feasibility study underway.
3 Allen Farm: Grant for feasibility study, multiple 900-kW turbines.
4 North Road, 114-foot turbine
5 Allerton Farm, 114-foot turbine
6 Up-Island Regional School District, West Tisbury School site: Grant for feasibility study, 196-foot turbine.
7 Yoga Barn, 132-foot turbine
8 West Tisbury off Elias Lane, 114-foot turbine
9 New Lane, 111-foot turbine
10 Job's Neck, 95-foot turbine
11 Turkey Land Cove, 95-foot turbine.
12 Edgartown Wastewater Facility: Feasibility study complete for 270-foot turbine.
13 Morning Glory Farm: 126-foot turbine permitted, not yet built.
14 MV Ice Arena 123-foot turbine permitted, not yet built.
15 Martha's Vineyard Regional High School, 112-foot turbine.
16 Morgan Luce Lane, 93-foot turbine.
17 Tisbury DPW: Site for proposed 165-foot turbine under reconsideration after wind data study.
18 South Mountain Company, 112-foot turbine.
19 Buttonwood Farm, 115-foot turbine.
20 Long View, 93-foot turbine.
21 Northern Pines Farm: Grant for feasibility study, multiple wind turbines up to 270-foot Permit application for MET tower under appeal by Tisbury Zoning Board.
Aquinnah Community Wind Project
The Town of Aquinnah is exploring the possibility of a Community Wind project at several municipal locations. Global Energy Concepts is preparing a Municipal Wind Turbine Site Survey report for the Town. Upon completion, the Town will review the report and consider potential next steps.
Edgartown Community Wind Project
The Town of Edgartown is exploring the possibility of a Community Wind project at its wastewater treatment facility. The project would involve installing a 270-foot tall wind turbine that would produce between 75 to 125 percent of the wastewater treatment facility's needs. Depending on the output, some of the turbine's energy may go to power the Edgartown School. The Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust sponsored a comprehensive feasibility study recently completed by the consulting team of R. W. Beck and DNV Global Energy Concepts. The assessment confirmed that the site is technically viable for a wind turbine. The results of a transportation study should be available soon.
Martha's Vineyard Public Charter School
The school received a grant for a study to consider the feasibility of installing a 600- to 900-kW wind turbine on site to power the school's core annual electrical load. However, school board president Sam Berlow said this week that the charter school has converted its efforts to support the Island's farm to school wind energy initiative, rather than erect a wind turbine on the school's property.
Northern Pines Farm, Tisbury
A wind turbine project proposed at Northern Pines Farm, which would be tied in with the Island's community-supported agricultural program, received a $40,000 grant from the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust for a feasibility study for the project, including the installation of a meteorological (MET) tower to measure wind speed and direction for one year. The project calls for installing one or several 900-kilowatt wind turbines, up to 270 feet tall, on the 42-acre farm, located between Lambert's Cove Road and the west side of Lake Tashmoo. A special permit required for the MET tower currently is in the appeals process at Tisbury's zoning board of appeals.
Tisbury Community Wind Project
The Town of Tisbury evaluated the Department of Public Works facility as a potential site for a 600-kW wind turbine, measuring 165 feet high, with 75-foot blades. In June 2007, the Renewable Energy Research Lab (RERL) of UMass Amherst installed a met tower in the town's former septage lagoons. The wind measurement and monitoring process began in June 2007. Data analysis indicated insufficient wind. In April energy committee members Henry Stephenson and Chris Fried said Tisbury's proposal to erect a wind turbine now hinges on whether or not the Department of Environmental Protection will allow it to be erected on the capped section of the landfill, which the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC) deemed the best site. The selectmen agreed to send a letter requesting more analysis from MTC.
Up-Island Regional School District
The Up-Island Regional School District, which serves the towns of Chilmark, Aquinnah, and West Tisbury, received a grant for $30,000 to study the feasibility of installing a 250-kW wind turbine on the West Tisbury School site. Given that the 14-acre school had 432,080-kWh of electric usage and peak demand of 112 kW in 2007, a 250-kW wind turbine will be a good match for the school's load. The school district is considering a community-scale wind turbine as an option to help offset the West Tisbury School's electricity demand and rising energy costs.
Wampanoag Tribal Headquarters, Aquinnah
The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) received a $50,000 grant from Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC), as well as a grant worth $82,000 from the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and is conducting a feasibility study on site locations before putting up a MET tower.
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