Old Lyme - A local developer has partnered with a former state representative and a self-proclaimed renewable energy expert to tackle an ambitious project that would bring two commercial wind turbines, each about 300 feet tall, to the salt marsh area north of Halls Road.

If built, the 3-megawatt wind-turbine project, coined the Huntley Wind Cooperative, would be one of the first in the state used for commercial purposes.

A 100-kilowatt project in New Haven is the only commercial project the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund has funded thus far, said Emily Smith, a Clean Energy Fund spokeswoman.

HUNTLEY WIND COOPERATIVE

WHO: Clean and Green Energy LLC (Timothy Londregan, president of Old Saybrook-based Londregan Commercial Real Estate Group; David Anderson, former state representative; Hans Hartman, renewable-energy expert/filmmaker)

WHAT: A 3-megawatt wind-turbine project that calls for the construction of two 1.5-megawatt wind turbines

WHEN: Project in early stages

WHERE: On 27 acres of land north of Halls Road in Old Lyme

WHY: To generate about 9 million megawatt-hours of renewable wind energy a year and sell it to Connecticut Light & Power Co.

Hans Hartman, a Stonington resident and the renewable-energy expert in a company that includes commercial real estate broker Timothy Londregan and former state Rep. David Anderson, said Friday that the two wind turbines “would be another source of energy generation that would be available to all of the people in the Northeast.”

”As we progress, every time I see the blade turn on the revolution, (there's) another gallon of foreign oil that we didn't have to buy from the Middle East,” said Hartman, who is also a filmmaker.

One wind turbine would be installed in the salt marsh at the end of Davis Road off Halls Road, while the other would be placed on a rocky ledge west of the marsh, Hartman said.

The $7.7 million project is expected to generate 9 million megawatt-hours a year, enough to power 700 homes, according to a statement by Clean and Green Power, the company working on the project. The company would sell the energy to a power company.

Clean and Green Power is an affiliate of Longshore Partners LLC, whose principal is Old Lyme resident Londregan. Londregan is president of the Old Saybrook-based Londregan Commercial Real Estate Group and is also the developer of a proposed pharmacy and medical office building in Gales Ferry that has not yet materialized. The town of Ledyard is seeking to terminate its purchase agreement with Londregan's company, Cefalu LLC.

Is it enough wind?

Clean and Green Power has yet to submit any formal applications for the wind project, which would require a presentation to Old Lyme residents for comment and the submission of an application to the Connecticut Siting Council.

Derek Phelps, executive director of the Siting Council, said his council has jurisdiction over wind turbines that are 1 megawatt or larger.

Hartman said he has discussed the project with the Clean Energy Fund, but Smith said Friday she had no record of a commercial wind-turbine proposal in Old Lyme. The Clean Energy Fund is working with two developers testing the feasibility of erecting commercial wind turbines in Prospect and Colebrook.

”Connecticut's a tough state with wind,” said Smith. “There's kind of pockets of space in Connecticut where it seems like wind would be good for. We're testing for some of those sites. … But not every spot is good to put up a gigantic windmill.”

Hartman said the three have been working on the project for several years and recently acquired additional land that now gives the company enough acreage to move forward.

The company purchased the former transfer station property on Halls Road from Connecticut Light and Power for $10,000 on Feb. 4, according to the property sales record in the Town Clerk's office. The company now controls about 27 acres of land by the salt marsh, according to the company statement.

”The unobstructed wind corridor from Long Island Sound to the salt marsh portion of the site, coupled with the elevation of the upland portion of the property, have resulted in recorded wind speeds adequate for such a project, a situation that does not exist in many areas of the State of Connecticut,” the statement reads.

Logically, it does make sense to think that winds might be stronger along the shore, Smith said. But the Clean Energy Fund does not have a wind study to back up the idea that the wind along the shoreline is enough for a successful wind-turbine project, she said.

”For a wind project to be successful, there needs to be a steady, constant flow of a minimal amount of wind, so that you're constantly generating electricity,” said Smith. “The technology's so expensive that in order for there to be a reasonable payback for the developer, you need to constantly produce electricity.”

A color-coded map of wind speeds in southeastern Connecticut on the Clean Energy Fund Web site shows that the shoreline in Old Lyme has an average wind speed of 5 to 6 meters per second. The wind speed for much of southeastern Connecticut is 4 to 5 meters per second, according to the 2005 data.

The highest wind speed listed on the map key - 9 meters per second or more - is not recorded in any area in this portion of the state.

Old Lyme First Selectman Timothy Griswold said Friday that the town supports the use of renewable sources of energy but that the proposed scope of the project was of concern.

The proposed wind turbines - which would be between 201 feet and 328 feet in height, not counting the blades - would be considerably taller than the cell towers in town, which are 190 feet tall, Griswold said. The turbines would also be centrally located in town, by the Lieutenant River.

Hartman, of Clean and Green Power, said he expected some public resistance to the project. Historically, people who oppose the installation of such things as telephone poles and cell towers stop noticing them over time, he said.

”Here's what I can't wait to see,” Hartman said. “Because this is going to happen. People are going to say at first, 'They're too big, and I don't want them in my backyard.' And within three to six months that they're up and running, you're going to have people say, 'Oh yeah, I live in Old Lyme. The town in Connecticut that has the wind turbines' … This is something to be proud of.”

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