BOSTON – Gov. Deval L. Patrick has set a new goal of developing 2,000 megawatts (MW) of wind-power capacity by the year 2020; that would be enough to power 800,000 homes.
“We have already made a commitment to reaching 250 megawatts of solar power in Massachusetts by 2017, and we are moving toward that goal,” Patrick said. “Now is the time to turn to wind power, where we should reach even higher.
“With the growing interest in wind turbines we see in communities across the Commonwealth, and the abundant wind resource we have off our coast, wind power is going to be a centerpiece of the clean-energy economy we are creating for Massachusetts.”
Moreover, the U.S. Department of Energy’s decision in June 2007 to site one of two planned national Wind Technology Testing Centers in Massachusetts has positioned the state “to become a national center for wind-power research and development, offering the economic rewards of technology development, entrepreneurship and jobs,” the governor’s office said.
(The local wind-technology center, along Boston Harbor, is a project of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Partnership, an alliance that includes the Mass. Technology Collaborative, the University of Massachusetts, the Mass. Port Authority and various state agencies. The other center, in Ingleside, Texas, is a project of the Loan Star Wind Alliance, a coalition of the Houston Advanced Research Center; several public colleges in Texas; and a number of other educational institutions, including Stanford University; and industrial partners BP, DOW, Huntsman, and Shell Wind.)
Only through a “significant commitment” to wind power, the governor said, can the state fulfill its obligations under new mandates that require sharp reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions and increases in use of renewable energy.
The Mass. Global Warming Solutions Act, signed into law last year, requires the state to achieve an 80-percent reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions by 2050, and a reduction of up to 25 percent by 2020.
Installing the 2,000 MW of wind capacity for which Patrick is calling would provide “green” power to meet about 10 percent of the state’s current electrical load, the administration said. And by displacing energy currently generated from fossile fuels, it would reduce the state’s greenhouse-gas emissions by 3.1 million tons per year, or 12 percent of current power-plant emissions.
The Mass. Green Communities Act, also enacted last year, “smoothed the way for wind turbines with new incentives,” noted Mass. Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Ian A. Bowles. As a result, he said, “municipalities around the Commonwealth are lining up to bring wind power to their communities. We are going to do everything we can to help them, and create a vibrant wind power industry at the same time.”
An energy-facilities siting panel – established by the Green Communities Act– has begun reviewing existing laws and regulations, in part to determine whether they “adequately facilitate the siting of renewable and alternative energy facilities.” It is expected to return with recommendations this spring.
Meanwhile, the state is developing a comprehensive ocean-management plan that is expected to identify potential sites for “appropriate-scale renewable energy facilities.” And the administration also has undertaken a study, due Feb. 1, under the terms of the Green Jobs Act, of the potential for renewable-power development on state-owned lands.
“First Wind applauds Governor Patrick’s efforts to make wind energy a priority in Massachusetts,” said Paul Gaynor, president and CEO of the Newton, Mass.-based company, which is one of the backers of Rhode Island offshore wind-power developer Deepwater Wind. He lauded the state officials’ “leadership … in making the Commonwealth a nurturing environment for the development of alternative energies, notably wind power”
News and information from the Mass. Governor’s Office are available at www.mass.gov. Information about the Mass. Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs is available at www.mass.gov/eoeea.
Information about the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory outside Boulder, Colo. – site of the National Wind Technology Center – and the NREL’s planned Wind Technology Centers is available at www.nrel.gov/wind.
