Metropolitan Area Planning Council

In 2003, MAPC received a $50,000 grant from The Renewable Energy Trust of the Massachusetts Technology Council, under its Community Wind Collaborative. The grant provides technical and educational assistance for the siting of onshore wind turbines with the goal of increasing public acceptability in ten North Shore coastal communities: Beverly, Essex, Gloucester, Ipswich, Lynn, Manchester, Marblehead, Rockport, Salem, and Swampscott.

Products have included two public forums on wind energy for the North Shore, presentations to each North Shore community on wind energy opportunities and barriers, an electronic survey on the use wind power on North Shore residents, wind resource maps for each community, development of renewable energy strategies for MAPC's MetroFuture Regional Plan, and a wind turbine siting ordinance for the City of Lynn.

The North Shore Wind project has generated considerable interest by communities around the North Shore. Both Swampscott and Gloucester have just appointed Renewable Energy Committees, which will allow them access to free technical assistance from the UMass Renewable Energy Lab to investigate potential wind turbine sites. Beverly, Rockport and Salem will have follow up presentations from the Community Wind Collaborative this summer, to learn more about the program and then consider appointing Renewable Energy Committees of their own. Working with Community Wind, Eastham, Falmouth, Orleans and Lynn have all appointed Renewable Energy Committees and erected MET towers to test wind sites. The Lynn City Council will consider adopting the MAPC-drafted wind turbine siting ordinance this summer.

View maps of Land Based Wind Energy Facility Sitings:

See the Community Wind website at: http://www.mtpc.org/RenewableEnergy/Community_Wind/index.htm.