Mass. school makes leap to wind power

People gather after the ribbon cutting on a 100-kilowatt wind turbine at the McGlynn Middle School in Medford, Mass.

(Credit: Martin LaMonica/CNET Networks)

MEDFORD, Mass.--Wind turbines themselves aren't exactly exotic--thousands of them are already installed around the world. But it is unusual to see a 150-foot-high turbine spinning next to a middle school football field.

The Boston suburb of Medford cut the ribbon on a 100-kilowatt wind turbine on Thursday in a ceremony that included speeches from the mayor and a long line of children. It is said to be the first commercial-size wind turbine installed at a public Massachusetts school.

The turbine at the John J. McGlynn Middle School will offset about 10 percent of the school's electricity, saving the city budget $25,000 a year.

"How long are we going to be dependent on other parts of the world for energy? Everybody talks about it, (but) nobody wants to do anything," Medford Mayor Michael McGlynn remarked after cutting the ribbon on the turbine.

Getting the turbine installed required a sustained commitment and creative thinking on financing, officials said.

Few municipalities have the money available to simply purchase a turbine. They typically cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to install. The city also faced opposition from people who feared that the turbine would be an eyesore, McGlynn said.

In the case of Medford, a clean-energy committee worked on the project for three years and was able to pay for it by raising about $650,000 in grants.

The savings from the turbine help finance the project as well, according to city officials who project that it will pay for itself in seven to eight years.

At one point, there was a possibility of raising money by selling the naming rights, as many sports stadiums have done. But the city was able to get a $100,000 grant from the nonprofit Mass Energy Consumers Alliance. One condition of the grant was a commitment to establish an education program in solar power and other types of alternative energy.

Education is a big part of the project's goal, according to McGlynn. Inside the school, there will be a display of how much electricity the turbine is producing.

During the ceremony in the school's auditorium, students spoke about how important alternative energy and the environment are to their future, which McGlynn said was "inspirational."

"It's not by chance that this (turbine) is down by the school," he said. "We want to educate...and it's the kids who always lead the parents."

[sparrowhyperion]

I grew up in Medford. I wish they had something like this then. The old Robert's Junior High could have used it. That old school always seemed to have power outages. :)

[nicmart]

How nice i would be to have hundreds or thousands of these monstrosities in each community. All brought to you by "grants."

[Jack K1]

If these things save so much money, how come we need grants for them?

[Seaspray0]

It's the initial investment. That, and wind energy doesn't work just anywhere. The school will save $25,000/yr but had to front $650,000. How many years does it take for that $25,000 to add up to $650,000? That tells me that the area is not a good location for wind turbines. There are other areas that have better wind profiles where you can get your investment back in less than 12 years.

[Hey_Radar]

Cost $650,000 to install.

Saves $25,000 a year

Break even mark = 26 YEARS!!

[neighborhoodcomentator]

its not really a linear savings like that. The cost of energy is expected to increase exponentially in the next 26 years. therefore increasing the savings year over year.

[freemarket--2008]

I suggest you look up 'exponentially'. I think you mean incrementally, otherwise, none of us will be able to afford to run an electric toothbrush in a few years. Plus, the $650,000 was in grants which means means no payback. I am assuming they had to kick in some matching funds to qualify for some of the grants--the article doesn't say.

[Joe Real]

freemarket, it depends upon the rate coefficient that you assume. I can gladly write an equation with an exponential rate of increase, but whose principal will only double after 100,000 years, so that your toothbrush can still be affordable after that time.

[MaLvaDo39]

How fashionable- Oil derricks are out, but these huge turbines are in.
Irony at it's finest...

[ssreject]

Sorry, Medford. Hull High in Hull, MA was the first to have a commercial windmill installed near the football field. Actually, last time I visited my home town, Hull had 2 windmills...one at the school, another closer to Hingham/Cohasset.

[mlamonica]

Yes, Hull, Mass has a wind turbine next to their school, though I'm not sure it's on school grounds. Cut and paste this link to see the turbine next the school field: http://news.cnet.com/2300-11392_3-6205368-2.html?tag=mncol

[freemarket--2008]

Hopefully, an energy audit was done first. The biggest savings are usually gained by increasing efficiency and reducing waste.

I don't get the math of the system paying for itself in 7-8 years if it is saving $25,000 per year. Does that mean it cost an additional $200,000 above the $650,000 in grants?

[carlhage]

Just based on typical cases, I doubt there was a comprehensive energy audit. At least there is none posted at http://www.medfordcleanenergy.org/ There would certainly be a valuable educational benefit from posting such an audit, as I would expect dramatic benefits with almost immediate payback. While Medford is way ahead of most places, the focus still seems to be on generating clean energy rather than cutting waste.

I wonder about the economics of a 100KW turbine. From the specs, it needs 34mph to generate full power, 20mph at half power-- that seems pretty windy. The large >1MW turbines in the midwest are cost competitive with natural gas, and have much lower installed cost/W-peak. The Medford unit seems to be ~$7/W instead of $2.

[ninjaburn]

I live south of Pittsburgh and they put a similar one in to a High School, and they have already seen a reduction in energy spending, and it has only been two years. Also, many view it not as a 'monstrosity' but as a reflection of change and a move to a less oil/gas dependent community. Plus, the teens all think it is really cool.

Besides, I'm not sure when aesthetics became so important to people when we are desperately trying to find better and cheaper ways to produce energy.

[Seaspray0]

How can you compare one of those ugly turbines to the beautiful smokestacks of a coal fired eletric power plant?

NOT!

[mike_ekim]

Martin,

A lot of us are wondering about the financial numbers in your article. Clarification would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Mike

[mlamonica]

Hi readers, I just got off the phone with the mayor of Medford who provided some more detail. For the basic sources of grants, please go to this link: http://www.medfordcleanenergy.org/MEIPoverview.html

For more detail, here's what I can offer:
-The city took out a loan as part of the financing, so it paid for some of this upfront as it waits for the loan money to come in.
-On an annual basis, it will be saving $25,000 a year on electricity (conservatively). They also will be earning $7500 on renewable energy credits. There is $10,000 a year from GreenUp, a program run by the utility National Grid to promote efficiency and renewable energy in municipalities.

These financial calculations are important but to be clear, return on investment was not the only goal (maybe not even the primary goal). The city and mayor decided to put up the turbine. Then they went about the business of getting grants. McGlynn said their goal was multifaceted--environmental, economic, and education. He added that this city's model may not work everywhere.

[NProszkow]

Here is a link to the Medford Clean Energy Committee website:

http://www.medfordcleanenergy.org/MEIPoverview.html

The page shows funding breakdown and other information on the turbine

- A proud Medford teacher

[HeavyJim]

You got the financial details from a politician. Yeah, I believe those figures.

[pebear]

Ok so this thing cost 650K and as the other guy pointed out the break even point is 26 years? This thing only makes enough electricity to supply 15% of the school's needs? This whole thing reeks of feel good politics that makes little particle sense? What wold have been a better project would be to have the students design and build green energy production systems on their own in team and install them as projects around the school. The kids could have made wind generators, sure they would not be as good as this monstrosity but they would be built by the kids. Kids could even put together arrays of solar panels and wired up batteries and transformers and inverters and see how it all goes together by doing it. How much does it take to make a wind turbine at it's basic level? It's just wrapped up wire spinning against rare earth magnets, run that to some sort of collection point, a room full of batteries and pipe the batteries to an ac inverter and then pipe into the grid for the schools use, same can be done with Solar Panels. Other things kids can do is solar heat collection for hot water and heat systems. That would teach them some basic pluming skills. It comes down to this, if you just pay some company to come out and install an industrial wind turbine you miss many opportunities to teach real world engineering and physic's lessons and in the end you end up with marginal results that you have paid way to much for.

[theconceptualizer]

This is all "feel good" liberal Massachusetts crap. In their minds, grant money is not a cost to be included in any sort of evaluation of worth. It must come from the Almighty, free and unlimited and no need to include in any sort of payback calculation.
I am all for wind energy, when properly placed and is an efficient use of public funds. Grant money wasted on a frivolous project means these dollars not available for serious and appropriate projects.
Economics should count, even with public money.
What happens when one of these turbines explodes in heavy winds and someone gets hurt. It will set back wind energy many, many years...
But in the mean time, let's all give each other hugs and go home and turn on the tube.

[kenbe]

The savings are at this point in the amount of $25,000.00, per year. A great place to start considering it was paid for by grants.
The way I see this is,

Savings of $25,000.00 per year of taxes.
Environmentally safe.
Creates no carbon emissions.
Creats less independence on foreign oil.
Saves American soldiers lives--- PRICELESS INVESTMENT

[ameren1]

Martin,
Thank you for this informative article and video. I was curious about the sounds the wind turbine makes. I could not tell from the video if the turbine was making a significant sound. Thanks in advance.

[chumlyb]

I was delighted to see the windmill today from the highway - it's beautiful. None of the people I was with had heard of it so it was a total surprise. I'm taken aback by all the vitriol in the comments here. I think it's an excellent addition - super for the kids to see and a wonderful sight from the highway ramp as the white blades turn against the blue sky. Go Medford!!

[chumlyb]

I have only seen the turbine from the highway ramp but I would imagine that any noise it make is drowned out by the ever present deafening roar of Route 93. And I would rather listen to a windmill any day than the noise of the nonstop cars and trucks that impacts so much of the City.