By: Deborah Johnson Wood
Earlier this month, the Zeeland city council approved two renewable energy initiatives proposed by the Zeeland Board of Public Works (ZBPW). The initiatives will help the ZBPW satisfy an expected state mandate for electric companies to obtain 10 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2015.
The initiatives are the first renewable energy pursuits by the municipality and will supply the ZBPW with nine percent renewable energy by 2013.
The city council approved a $500,000 investment to construct two 50 kW wind turbines in Holland Township’s Helder Park. The turbines will produce enough electricity to power about 22 homes. The ZBPW plans to lease the land from the township for $1 a year over 20 years.
A second project, the purchase of electricity produced by methane gas from the Autumn Hills Landfill at 56th and Adams streets, carries a price tag of $1 million dollars for the installation of a three-mile underground line extension to the North American Natural Resources (NANR) plant, the company supplying the electricity.
NANR will construct an electric generating plant at the site dedicated to providing power to the ZBPW. Another $300,000 covers the ZBPW’s cost of constructing, owning and operating interconnect facilities at the plant.
Because the ZBPW’s electricity distribution network connects directly to the NANR plant and not to a plant farther away, the ZBPW expects to save $1 million in transmission charges, which will pay for the installation of the new line.
Source: Zeeland Board of Public Works
Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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