PROVIDENCE – The R.I. Economic Development Corporation has awarded $681,875 in renewable energy grants to 17 local projects – the largest amount of grants awarded through the Renewable Energy Fund since the EDC took responsibility of the fund last year.
Fourteen of the grants will be used to study the feasibility of wind turbines at various locations around the state, with numerous studies sought by city or town governments.
The city of Providence, for instance, was awarded a grant to study constructing two 900-kilowatt wind turbines in the city. The grant amounts on this project and the others were not specified in a press release on the grants.
Another grant was given to what appeared to be a private real estate company, SLA Realty, to study the installation of wind turbines on a 750-acre parcel in Exeter.
Other projects that received grants included the installation of a 100-kilowatt wind turbine and solar hot water system at Sandywoods Farms, a “mixed-income, mixed-use” housing development in Tiverton.
The multi-million-dollar Renewable Energy Fund had been intended to subsidize residential and commercial projects. Since taking over responsibility of the fund from the R.I. Office of Energy Resources last summer, the EDC has instituted a new strategic plan and allocated some of the fund to projects proposed by municipalities and nonprofits building affordable housing.
The EDC issued its first grant in January – $30,000 to the town of Jamestown to conduct a wind power feasibility study.
Aside from the Providence feasibility study and the Sandywoods Farms development, the projects that received funding include:
• Predevelopment and analysis of a potential hydropower project on the Blackstone River. Applicant: Valley Affordable Housing.
• Feasibility of wind and other renewable energy opportunities for land and projects being developed in Portsmouth and Newport. Applicant: O’Neil Properties Group.
• Second of a two-part wind feasibility study for a 600-kilowatt turbine in North Smithfield. Applicant: St. Antoine Residence.
• Feasibility of wind turbine and solar panels for a new affordable housing project in Portsmouth. Applicant: Coastal Housing Corporation.
• Feasibility of using the Arkwright Pond Dam in Cranston for hydropower. Applicant: Arkwright Advanced Coating.
• Design and installation of solar panels on a raised steel support as part of the Trinity Church restoration in Providence. Applicant: Trinity Restoration.
• Wind measuring equipment in conjunction with a fire service project in North Smithfield. Applicant: town of North Smithfield.
• Wind energy feasibility for the regional South Kingstown Wastewater Treatment Facility and the Scarborough Wastewater Treatment Facility. Applicant: Town of Narragansett.
• Two-phase wind power assessment in the city of Warwick. Applicant: city of Warwick.
• Feasibility of hydroelectric power in the village of Harrisville in Burrillville. Applicant: town of Burrillville.
• Feasibility of 65-kilowatt wind turbine at Hamilton Elementary School in North Kingstown. Applicant: North Kingstown School Department.
• Feasibility of wind turbines at multiple sites in the East Bay region, funded in conjunction with the Rhode Island Foundation. Applicant: the East Bay Energy Consortium, a group cities and town.
• Design and installation of a 12-kilowatt solar panel on New Shoreham Town Hall. Applicant: New Shoreham.
• Design and installation of 50-kilowatt solar panels at the Westfield Commons development project in Providence. Applicant: West Elmwood Housing Development Corporation.
“I have set an aggressive goal to increase the use of renewable sources of energy to generate 20 percent of the state’s electricity need,” Gov. Donald L. Carcieri said in a press release. “The Renewable Energy Fund is a critical component of our plans as it supports programs that will fund alternative energy sources for our cities and towns.”
