The Town of Portsmouth Rhode Island officially broke ground for their wind turbine generator the afternoon of June 13, 2008. The ceremony was held at the wind turbine site at the Portsmouth High School, 120 Education Lane in Portsmouth. The site is in the field above the high school tennis courts next to the gymnasium. Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony were representatives of the Town of Portsmouth and the Wind Turbine Manufacturer, AAER of Bromont, Quebec, Canada. Speaking for the Town was Dennis Canario, Portsmouth Town Council President. Mr. Canario praised the Portsmouth Economic Development Committee for initiating the project as a potential economic generator for the Town. He also noted the cooperation between many organizations including officials from the Town, the Town School Department and School Committee, State representatives, the State Office of Energy Resources and the Federal Government in leading the way to not only a great symbol of the Town’s commitment to reducing their dependence on fossil fuels, but as a way of generating revenue at the same time. He did emphasize, however, the importance of the commitment and support of the citizens of the Town of Portsmouth. He called it “truly the Town’s Wind Turbine Generator”. Dave Gagnon, the President and CEO of AAER said he was proud to form a “long term partnership” with Portsmouth that he noted is “a community with such a vision that holds the diversification of their energy sources to heart.”. Gagnon concluded by saying, “AAER is proud to supply the Town of Portsmouth with a wind turbine that will symbolize your commitment to the development of green energy and to make way for a promising partnership. Let’s catch the wind Portsmouth.” The $2.93 Million, 1.5 Megawatt turbine project is the first one by AAER in the United States. As a result of this project, AAER has just opened its United States office in Providence. The turbine generator, expected to be in operation late in 2008, will supply much of the electrical power needs of the school and, at times, generate additional electrical power for the town.

The turbine generator is expected to provide over 3 million kilowatt-hours of power per year. This will displace electrical power that the High School normally buys from the power company and generate additional power to provide over $100,000.00 in net revenue to the Town, above the cost of procuring and operating the turbine generator, the first year in operation and close to $3 Million over its expected 20-year minimum expected lifetime. Funding for the project is via a bond referendum approved by Portsmouth voters in last November’s election that allowed the borrowing of up to $3 Million to pay for the effort. Construction of the turbine generator foundation and installation of interconnection equipment and wiring is expected to be completed this summer. When the wind turbine is received, which could be as early as November 2008, installation and connection is expected to take about 3 days.

The wind turbine, on its 65 meter tower atop the second highest hill on Aquidneck Island, long ago called “windmill hill”, will be a visible indication of Portsmouth’s commitment to ‘green’ energy. It will play a role in reducing the Town’s ‘carbon footprint’ and will help achieve the State’s goal of 20 percent of its energy produced by renewable resources by 2020.