Massachusetts Scouting for Wind Power Sites to Meet Goal

The state of Massachusetts is hunting for unusual places to put wind turbines as it looks to meet an ambitious goal of producing 2,000 megawatts of windpower by 2020.

The Associated Press reports that state officials are encouraging municipal planners to look at using capped landfills as potential wind farm locations. Plans were also just announced for a military reservation on Cape Cod.

The state is hoping to jump start development, because right now, the AP reports, there are only 11 commercial scale turbines in the state. But, ther are dozens of smaller ones installed and nearly 200 other projects in various stages of planning.

The most visible of those is the 130-turbine Cape Wind Project in Nantucket Sound that has been the subject of intense scrutiny. Other creative projects include one at the Jiminy Peak ski resort, anda small turbine farm in Hancock. State officials are holding a workshop this Wednesday to encourage local leaders to explore different siting options for wind farms.

Gov. Deval Patrick has said he wants 10 percent of the state’s energy needs to come from wind by 2020. The state is also boosting its green credential by planning to install a EV charging network jointly with Connecticut.

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