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The answer to some of Fairfield's power problems may be blowin' in the wind. Monday night the RTM voted to do a three-month study to see whether a wind turbine would benefit the town. Public works director Richard White said data will be collected at the proposed site near the town dump off One Rod Highway. The study will be funded by a $50,000 grant from the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund.
The town hopes to save $350,000 a year by running the sewage-treatment plant at One Rod Highway with wind-generated electricity.
Fairfield would be the first state municipality to construct a wind turbine. A similar generator was built in New Haven by Phoenix Press, a private company. Hull, Mass., has used power generated from a wind turbine since the 1980s and recently upgraded its turbine. The new one has saved the town $250,000 a year since it was constructed in 2001.
A wind turbine would cost $2 million to build, with the town paying $1 million and a grant paying $1 million. White said it could take three years to pay off the turbine.
The site is 66 feet above sea level, meaning the turbine would not have to be as tall as it would at other sites. Its location near Long Island Sound also makes it the best place in town to collect wind. The new turbines are quiet, White said, and should not disturb neighbors. The town will determine the exact height and then superimpose the turbine onto a photo of the site to distribute to neighbors.
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