As America’s dependence on energy continues to grow, it is critical to add renewable energy resources to the country’s energy portfolio mix.  These low- or zero-emission technologies will play an increasingly larger role in meeting our future energy demand, both on a national level and in the Holland community. The Holland Board of Public Works (HBPW) is proactive in realizing these goals.  We offer residential and small business customers the opportunity to participate in our Net Metering program, which allows the customer’s renewable energy generators to put excess generation back into the distribution grid in exchange for billing credits.  In addition, the following projects are underway at the HBPW.

Demonstration Wind Turbines

The BPW has installed one Swift residential sized wind turbine at its Service Center, located at 625 Hastings Avenue.  In addition, a second Swift wind turbine and one Skystream wind turbine were installed at the City of Holland Civic Center.  This project was intended to educate the public on how renewable energy systems work, viability, and cost effectiveness. 

The Swift is rated at 1.5 kW and the Skystream is rated at 1.9 kW.  An LCD monitor was installed at the Service Center Lobby and another LCD monitor was installed in the Civic Center lobby to display important data for each of the turbines, including instantaneous and accumulated energy produced from each of the turbines, wind speed, temperature, and also how much CO2 production was avoided by using the turbines.  

Granger Land Fill Gas Project

The Granger Renewable Energy Project of the Michigan Public Power Agency (MPPA), when developed, is anticipated to provide the HBPW with up to three percent (3%) of the electric energy required by the HBPW.  The project will develop up to 25 megawatts of electric generation sourced from landfill gas.  Holland’s portion is 4 megawatts.

Grayling Biomass Project

In late 2008, the Holland Board of Public Works (HBPW) negotiated a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for 1 MW (megawatt) of power from the Grayling Generating Station in Grayling, Michigan.  The HBPW began receiving power from Grayling on December 16, 2008.  The Grayling Generating Station is a 36.2 MW (megawatt) waste wood-fired power station.  The one year contract is expected to provide 5000 – 6000 MWh (megawatt hours) of renewable generation.  The contract is in the process of being renewed for 2010.

Wind Turbine Manufacturing Development

The BPW has worked with the Right Place in Grand Rapids and a major wind turbine manufacturer to have that manufacturer locate a wind turbine manufacturing facility in the City of Holland.  This also entailed working to partner that same wind turbine company with Energetx Composites, a Holland based manufacturer of wind turbine blading.

North American Natural Resources (NANR)

The HBPW has been working with NANR for the past several months on a power purchase agreement from a generation source at a county owned landfill site near Niles, Michigan in Berrien County. This generation source includes three in service 1.6 MW generators. It is anticipated that the landfill will yield more gas supply over the next few years, which would allow for an additional 1.6 MW of generation to be sited at that location.  The Holland BPW is to receive up to 6.4 megawatts (MW) of power supply from this landfill gas generator in Berrien County, Michigan. The contract was approved by the HBPW Board of Directors on December 8, 2009, and by Holland City Council on December 16, 2009.

Stone Mountain Wind Farm

The Holland Board of Public Works entered into a purchase option agreement in 2008 for a 1440 acre piece of property in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  This option allowed the Hollland Board of Public Works to collect wind data for a period of one year before deciding whether or not to purchase the property with the intent of developing the site into a wind farm.  Initial projections indicated that the site could be developed into a 50 MW wind farm that could play a significant role in supplying Holland Board of Public Work's required 10% renewable energy for the state mandated RPS.  The wind data collection period ended in January, 2009, with the data indicating that the wind was poor and the project would be too costly to pursue.
 
City of Wyandotte Wind Turbines

The Holland Board of Public Works joined the City of Wyandotte, Michigan in December, 2008, for the purpose of investigating the feasibility of installing up to 12.5 MW (5 turbines) of wind capacity within Wyandotte’s city limits.  The Holland Board of Public Works was interested in investigating the possibility of owning two of the turbines (5 MW) in a partnership facilitated by the Michigan Public Power Agency, but has discontinued pursuing this project due to the projected cost of power produced.