Fall River to study wind turbines

FALL RIVER – The city of Fall River received $77,000 last week to study the feasibility of erecting two to eight wind turbines at Copicut Hill.
The Mass. Clean Energy Center announced the award as part of $2.66 million in grants designed to help Bay State communities find ways to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Fall River was the only Bristol County municipality to receive a grant.
The energy center said the city is pursuing a large-scale wind project with a capacity between 3.6 megawatts and 10.8 megawatts. That could produce more than 26,400 megawatt-hours annually or enough to power the city’s 30 largest facilities, including schools, City Hall and the wastewater treatment plant, the center said. Copicut Hill sits east of the downtown area and rises 358 feet, according to MountainZone.com.
“These grants will allow communities and institutions to reduce their use of fossil fuels, as well as help the commonwealth reach Governor Patrick’s goal of developing 2,000 megawatts of wind power capacity by 2020,” said Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian Bowles, who serves as chairman of center’s board of directors.