SED to Perform Wind Turbine Feasibility Study at Overlook Masonic Health Center. A wind turbine at Masonic would mark the 1st commercial scale wind turbine at a health center in the US.
Ontario, NY –
Sustainable Energy Developments, Inc. (SED) has developed several projects throughout its seven year history, among those: the first ski resort in the United States to be powered by wind, the first commercial scale wind turbine on Cape Cod, the first wind powered high school in Massachusetts and now the first health care facility in the country to be powered by a commercial scale wind turbine. The Masonic Health System contacted SED early in 2008 to discuss the potential of a wind turbine at their facility in Charlton, MA. The installation at the Health Center would mark the first health care facility in the United States to be directly powered by a commercial scale wind turbine.
After a little investigation into their facility, SED, an Ontario, NY based company, demonstrated that wind energy could be a reality at the long term care facility. On behalf of Masonic Health System, SED applied for funding to perform a feasibility study through the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative’s (MTC) Large Onsite Renewables Initiative (LORI) that was awarded in December 2008. SED will commence the feasibility study in the winter of 2009 to investigate the potential of a 1.5 MW wind turbine at the site.
The feasibility study will examine all aspects of the project from choosing the appropriate wind turbine and identifying the ideal location at the site, to assessing the wind resource and determining the economic savings a project would bring to Masonic Health System. Data will be collected and analyzed as the study is performed through the summer of 2009.
The preliminary analysis of the Overlook Masonic Health Center demonstrated a payback period of 10 years, saving the client an expected $10 million during the wind turbine’s expected lifetime of 25-years. This analysis was based on a model for a 1.5 MW wind turbine with total project costs estimated at about $4.25 million. The results of the feasibility study will be available for health care facilities across the country and the Masonic Health System will be a model for those sites to pursue green energy options.
Masonic Health System is one of four clients that SED applied for grants with during the October 2008 LORI round that received funding from the MTC. SED received funding for design and construction at Berkshire East Ski Resort in Charlemont, as well as for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority in Kingston. In addition to the Masonic Health System, SED also successfully obtained feasibility study funding for the Pocasset Golf Course in Pocasset. These four new grants bring SED’s total to 18 awarded grants through the MTC.
