TARGETED AREAS
under the Wind Energy Siting Reform Act
The Wind Energy Siting Reform Act (H.4886) targets the hills of the Berkshires and central Massachusetts, as well as the coast and islands, but, as it turns out, communities in other parts of the state are also vulnerable.
Right now, the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (formerly known as the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust (MRET)) is using public funds to finance feasibility and pre-development studies of wind facilities in areas with a minimum wind speed so low that the federal government and the state’s own consultants say it is not viable for commercial development.
A recent solicitation by MRET sought commercial projects in areas with minimum wind speeds of 6 meters per second (m/s) at 70 meters hub height. This is considered between Class I and II, too low for commercial development.
Using the state’s GIS datalayers, our cartographer compiled the following numbers of communities in the state with minimum wind speeds of 6 m/s at 70 m hub height:
* 294 towns have some area with winds >= 6.0 meters
* 214 towns have >= 1 square miles with winds >= 6.0 meters
* 174 towns have >= 2 square miles with winds >= 6.0 meters
* 154 towns have >= 3 square miles with winds >= 6.0 meters
* 137 towns have >= 4 square miles with winds >= 6.0 meters
* 124 towns have >= 5 square miles with winds >= 6.0 meters
* 78 towns have >= 10 square miles with winds >= 6.0 meters
* 37 towns have >= 20 square miles with winds >= 6.0 meters
* 7 towns have >= 40 square miles with winds >= 6.0 meters
These areas are not necessarily contiguous, but the numbers show that, of the state’s 351 cities and towns, most have at least one area where at least one industrial wind turbine could be erected if the land is not being used for a conflicting purpose.
The U. Mass. Renewable Energy Research Laboratory (RERL) did a study for the state’s Executive Office of Energy & Environmental Affairs (EOEEA) showing that, at the low wind speed now being funded, 94 communities have public or private land parcels with enough wind and acreage to each support five or more industrial wind turbines. Many towns have more than one such parcel.
On those parcels, more than 3,000 industrial wind turbines, with a typical height of 400 feet, could be erected. That number doesn’t include all the smaller land parcels that could support fewer than five turbines. RERL eliminated some environmental constraints before arriving at its potential build-out number.
A study for the ISO-New England, the regional grid operator, found that after screening for population density, and using higher wind speeds than used by RERL, all but 27 communities in Massachusetts could host industrial wind turbines.
The study considered all sites, not just those big enough for five turbines, and calculated that 6,585 MW of wind turbines (or 4,390 wind turbines like those used in the RERL study) could be built onshore in Massachusetts.
The study was done by Levitan & Associates in March 2008, and titled “Phase II Wind Study”.
Of course, many areas, particularly along the coast, are already developed for other uses, but, as can be seen in the town of Hull, industrial wind turbines can be squeezed into populated areas.
If you want another view of areas that would be vulnerable to industrial wind development under the Wind Energy Siting Reform Act, click on the Massachusetts Wind Speed Map – 70 meters on our MAPS webpage. Note in the legend at the lower left that 6 m/s is between Classes I and II wind speeds.
To see which places in your area could be targeted, check the Community Wind Atlas and the MassGIS Wind Energy Large Scale Site Screening Tool on our MAPS webpage.
Here are the documents from RERL and the EOEEA:
• RERL – MA Potential Wind Sites Mapping Results (4/29/08)
• EOEEA – Renewable Energy Potential at State-Owned Facilities and Lands (2/20/09)
• EOEEA – Windpower Section, (Renewable Energy Potential at State-Owned Facilities and Lands, 2/20/09)
• EOEEA – Map showing potential turbine locations on public lands, at 6.8 m/s (2/20/09)