The Berkshire Wind Power Cooperative Corporation (BWPCC), owner of the 10-turbine, 15-MW Berkshire Wind Power Project in Hancock, Massachusetts, announced “Phase Two” of the wind farm. Phase Two will include construction of two new wind turbines atop Brodie Mountain, bringing the site’s generating capacity to 19.6 MW.
When it began operation in 2011, Berkshire Wind was Massachusetts’ largest inland wind farm. Today it is the state’s second largest wind farm, operating successfully at one of windiest sites in Massachusetts with an average capacity factor of nearly 40%.
Plans include construction of two, 2.3-MW turbines adjacent to the existing turbines, with construction expected to start this fall and finish in spring of 2019. According to the BWPCC, improvements in blade technology will let the new turbines begin operating and generating power at lower wind speeds — further increasing potential output for the wind farm.
The turbine blades will feature a feathered blade trailing edge, reminiscent of a bird’s wing, to minimize blade wake and sound levels. The additional turbines will be erected on land already cleared for the original turbines, minimizing environmental impact to the Brodie Mountain ridge line.
BWPCC embodies a cooperative initiative of the Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company (MMWEC) and 14 of its member municipal utilities participating in the first phase of the project, including utilities based in the communities of Ashburnham, Boylston, Groton, Holden, Hull, Ipswich, Marblehead, Paxton, Peabody, Shrewsbury, Sterling, Templeton, Wakefield and West Boylston.
Participants in this second phase of the project include the municipal utilities in Boylston, Chicopee, Hull, Ipswich, Marblehead, Peabody, Russell, Sterling, Wakefield and West Boylston. MMWEC signed a contract in 2004 with Berkshire Wind’s original developer to purchase all of the project’s output.
MMWEC is the joint action agency for public power in Massachusetts, providing a variety of power supply, financial, risk management and other services to the state’s consumer-owned, municipal utilities.
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