Fairfield Goes Out to Bid on Study for Wind Turbine

Domenico Sestito, chairman of Hull, Mass.'s Board of Selectmen, is pretty enthusiastic about the two wind turbines in his town.

Not only do they produce 12 to 15 percent of what Hull uses in electricity, but the two turbines have generated enough publicity to allow Hull, which had been struggling, to redefine itself as a pioneer in renewable and sustainable energy, Sestito said Friday evening in a phone interview.

"It's been the best thing that's happened to our town in 100 years," Sestito said. "It's reinvented what our community is all about. We've been struggling for 20 to 30 years to redefine ourselves. We've been struggling, but we've now found something that can define us. We want to be the leader in the country" in sustainable and renewable energy.

Hull's first wind turbine, at 40 kilowatts, was erected in 1985, but a storm in 1997 damaged it beyond repair. The replacement was set up in 2001 and was followed by a second wind turbine in 2006. Hull's two wind turbines are 660 kilowatts and 1.8 megawatts.

The 660-kilowatt wind turbine generated 13,386,264 kilowatts of electricity over 3,146 days, or an average of 4,255 kilowatts a day, while the 1.8-megawatt wind turbine generated 15,981,635 kilowatts in 1,554 days, or an average of 10,284 kilowatts a day, according to the Web site, www.hullwind.org

"Twelve to 15 percent of what we use for electricity is free because we get it from the windmills," Sestito said.

Sestito's enthusiasm for Hull's wind turbines comes as Fairfield goes out to bid on a feasibility plan to install a wind turbine of its own near the town's wastewater treatment plant on One Rod Highway. Fairfield is soliciting proposals and bids for the feasibility of erecting a wind turbine of 100 kilowatts to 800 kilowatts. The $50,000 cost of Fairfield's feasibility study would be reimbursed by a grant from the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund, and proposals and bids are due at 11 a.m. Aug. 27 in Sullivan-Independence Hall.

Fairfield plans for its wind turbine to produce electricity for the town's wastewater treatment plant. Town Public Works Director Richard White told the Board of Selectmen in June that the town generates 641 kilowatts of electricity for the plant through microturbines, fuel cells and other sources, but pays for another 759 kilowatts. A wind turbine could cover that 759 kilowatts, according to White.

White estimated that a 500-kilowatt to 750-kilowatt wind turbine could save the town about $350,000 a year.

The cost to build a 500-kilowatt wind turbine would be about $2 million, but the town could get a grant for half the cost, meaning the payback period could be three years, White told the Board of Selectmen in June.

But the town first wants to determine whether erecting a wind turbine by the wastewater treatment plant, which is near Long Island Sound, is possible. The site was chosen because it's near the plant, is at least 500 feet from the nearest house, is in a "wind corridor" and the property is owned by the town.

Once Fairfield receives the bids and proposals for its feasibility study, a selection team comprised of White; Assistant Public Works Director Ed Boman; Michael Finoia, superintendent of the Water Pollution Control Facility; Town Purchasing Director Twig Holland; and Hilary Plesser, a buyer in the Purchasing Department; will shortlist and interview firms in September and select a firm by Oct. 7.

The feasibility study, expected to take a minimum of three months, would cover the permitting necessary for the wind turbine, wind speeds at different altitudes, a cost-benefit analysis of acquiring a wind turbine, public perception and response, and the turbine's effects on the environment.

Fairfield's solicitation of bids and proposals says responding firms should have done three feasibility studies on wind turbines in the past and that the ideal firm would have designed and built at least one wind turbine.

Meanwhile, Sestito said Hull hasn't abandoned a plan from 2007 to install four wind turbines off-shore that would total roughly 15 megawatts. "Costs could be a challenge. In the event we get four windmills, we could be at a point where 100 percent of our electricity could be covered by wind," he said.

Hull was even investigating the feasibility of installing turbines beneath the water that would generate electricity through currents instead of wind, Sestito said. "We do have a lot of water currents," he said.