Holland officials push renewable energy plans
October 26th, 2008 - Posted in renewable energyby Greg Chandler | Grand Rapids Press
HOLLAND — At a bar and grill in the Upper Peninsula community of Goetzville, Holland city and Board of Public Works officials outlined their vision for a commercial wind farm on a 1,500-acre parcel on the St. Mary’s River.
Chippewa County Administrator Jim German listened to the presentation, and came away excited at the possibilities.
“We’ve had very positive feedback on the project, not only from people in the area, but throughout the whole county,” said German, whose county has been trying to attract renewable energy projects to boost its economy and generate jobs.
Within a year to 18 months, the Holland BPW should know whether it’s feasible to construct 20 wind turbines on the property in Chippewa County’s DeTour and Raber townships, owned by Holland developer Wayne DeYoung.
The turbines would generate a total of 50 megawatts, making it potentially the largest wind energy project in the state.
The Holland BPW this week plans to erect a nearly 200-foot-high tower on the DeYoung property in the Upper Peninsula to collect weather information, including wind speed and direction, to help the city-owned utility determine whether the wind farm will work.
The tower had been originally scheduled to be installed near the DeZwaan windmill at Windmill Island Gardens, but was moved when BPW and the city approved an agreement to take a $300,000 option on the Upper Peninsula site.
“We’re interested in learning as much about wind as we can,” BPW General Manager Loren Howard said.
Law prompts action
The proposed wind farm is part of a flurry of new projects the BPW is pursuing to address Holland’s future energy needs.
The effort is being done with changes in state law now requiring at least a portion of a utility’s energy to come from renewable sources.
“We want to have a wide variety of resources available to us,” Howard said.
BPW officials have estimated the utility needs to increase its power capacity to 280,000 kilowatts by 2020, about 20 percent higher than the its peak hourly demand of more than 235,000 kilowatts, which occurred in 2006.
The BPW plans to spend nearly $1 million more to determine the feasibility of wind energy at the Chippewa County site.
The BPW is working with several companies to determine a cleaner way of burning coal at the utility’s James DeYoung power plant.
The utility has applied to build a 78-megawatt coal-fired boiler at the plant, replacing an aging boiler dating to the 1950s. That project, which is being reviewed by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, could cost $250 million to build.
Meanwhile, the utility is collecting information to submit to the U.S. Department of Energy for a project to collect carbon dioxide gases generated by the new boiler and bury those in rock formations more than a mile underground, possibly at Tulip City Airport or Van Raalte Farm.
An application on that project is expected to be submitted to the U.S. Department of Energy by January.
Holland is competing with Jamestown, N.Y., to be considered for the carbon sequestration project, which could result in as much as $150 million in federal funding.
City officials have approved contracts totaling nearly $200,000 with four companies helping compile information on the project’s feasibility.
While some have questioned the need for an additional coal-burning boiler at the DeYoung plant, Howard describes the coal option as “probably still the lowest-cost option for baseload generation.”
Brent Henry is interim general manager for the Michigan Public Power Agency, an organization that represents 14 city-owned utilities around the state. He isn’t surprised by the direction the BPW is taking addressing its energy needs, and expects other municipal utilities to follow suit.
“I think the idea is go into the future with options,” Henry said.
“We’ve got a scary future ahead of us. We don’t have a clear, solid direction where the industry is going.”
State lawmakers approved a measure requiring utilities to get at least 10 percent of its electric power from renewal sources.
Projects taking shape
BPW has several other renewable energy projects in the works. It plans to purchase up to 4-megawatts of electricity generated by a methane gas-to-energy project, developed by Lansing-based Granger Electric of Michigan.
In addition, the utility plans to pursue demonstration-level wind energy projects.
The BPW plans to mount three small wind turbines on the east facade of the Holland Civic Center and install a 45-foot monopole north of the center. Two small turbines are to be mounted at the BPW Service Center on Hastings Avenue for the $113,000 project, utility officials said.
Another $36,720 will be spent to lease a 160-foot-high meteorological tower at Windmill Island Gardens to measure the feasibility for a wind turbine there.
The tower could be installed by next month, said Mike Radakovitz, BPW planning and engineering manager.
The BPW is also interviewing candidates for a newly-created position to work with customers on ways to cut energy usage and advise utility leaders on policies and strategies related to conservation and energy efficiency.
The City Council approved spending $130,000 to establish the position and develop conservation programs. The position is expected to be filled by next month, Howard said.
