Swampscott receives grant for wind study

SWAMPSCOTT – The town this week received a grant for $75,000 for a wind-project feasibility study.The grant was announced by the The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, which is awarding $2.66 million in funding to 18 wind energy projects in the state, under the Commonwealth Wind Community Scale Wind Initiative.The money will be used to study whether it would be feasible to locate a 600 kW wind project on land that is located near the athletic fields at Swampscott Middle School. The proposed site location for installation of a wind turbine is an easement held by the town on property that is actually owned by Tedesco Country Club.The MassCEC board of directors approved the grants and Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian Bowles, who serves as its chairman, said the program supports feasibility studies and the installation of wind turbines.”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,” he said.The Commonwealth Wind Community Scale Wind initiative is a program of MassCEC’s Renewable Energy Generation division and it is funded by renewable energy charges on electric bills, which generate approximately $23 million a year to finance renewable energy installations and companies.