IPSWICH — A proposal to build a wind turbine on Town Farm Road is beginning to feel more like a done deal than a pipe dream.
Backers of the plan, which involves a unique collaboration between the School and Electric Light departments, are ready to order the turbine itself.
Ipswich is a member of the Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Co., a nonprofit consortium of 25 of the 40 municipal electrical utilities in Massachusetts. When the utility requested bids for 10 turbines it plans to install in western Massachusetts, Ipswich "piggybacked" its own request along with it.
There is extraordinary demand for the turbines, and delivery could take as long as two years, said Jim Engel, a member of the Electric Light Subcommittee who has been shepherding the turbine project.
The town has been contemplating building a wind turbine at the end of Town Farm Road for years, and voters at Town Meeting in 2006 approved of a plan. Its financial feasibility, however, depended on obtaining Clean Renewable Energy Bonds — no-interest federal loans — and the project was rejected twice.
Meanwhile, Superintendent Rick Korb found out early this year the schools are eligible for a $1.6 million grant. So the schools are aligning with the Electric Light Department, which will foot the other $2.6 million of the cost.
Electricity generated by the turbine will first reduce the electric bill at the schools; any surplus would offset the kilowatt hours the town has to buy from the grid. Engel estimated the schools would realize savings of about $2.5 million, while the Electric Light Department would save just over $500,000.
There's another economic benefit to clean-energy projects. Commercial electricity generators are required to have renewable energy sources as part of their energy portfolios. To meet that need, they can purchase what are known as renewable energy credits from generators, such as this project, that produce excess power.
If that worked out, the schools could save up to $3.4 million, Engel estimated, and the town nearly $2 million.
If all goes well, Engel said the wind turbine could be operating by January 2011.
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