Ground Broken at Wind Turbine Site

Township officials were on hand Monday at the Drum Point Sports Complex, helping break ground on the township's latest foray into the clean energy world. The park will be home to a .

In May, the township council awarded a $177,560 contract for the installation of the wind turbine to T.R. Weniger, Inc. of Greenbrook, Somerset County.

The turbine – will be located adjacent to the softball fields – is a 10 kilowatt system and will consist of 22-foot diameter blades atop an 80-foot high steel pole.  When complete, the turbine's size will be comparable to the sports lights used at the complex, according to township spokesman Ed Moroney. The project is expected to be completed within 90 days.

“Brick Township is becoming a leader in using renewable energy to lower utility costs for taxpayers,” said Mayor Stephen C. Acropolis. “This wind turbine will offset the costs of the Drum Point Sports Complex, which is the most heavily used recreational facility in our township.”

Acropolis has also said the turbine will be used as a tool to teach students at two nearby schools – Drum Point Elementary and Emma Havens Young School – about clean energy and how it is used in the real world.

Acropolis credited the Mayor’s Advisory Committee on Renewable Energy, an all-volunteer committee created in 2008 that was tasked with researching renewable energy initiatives that could be beneficial to the township. Since then, the township has installed a 125kw photovoltaic roof mounted solar system and a 12kw ground mounted photo photovoltaic solar system at the municipal complex.  That system produces about 158,511 kWh annually and generates about $125,000 in revenue for the township through the sale of energy credits, and about $30,000 in electricity bill savings.

The township is also at the former French's Landfill site, the final cap and closing of which was .