BARNEGAT--The Walters Group has installed a temporary 60-meter wind power test tower at Stafford Park as part of a one-year study to examine the site's potential for wind turbine energy.
The developer hopes to eventually initiate a wind power project at the 370-acre mixed-use redevelopment as part of an overall renewable energy effort.
The Walters Group, along with a research group headed by Dr. Richard Dunk, research scientist at the Rutgers University Institute for Marine and Coastal Sciences, have entered into an agreement, using Walter's resources and student interns to determine the Stafford site's compatibility for future wind energy development. Dunk is optimistic that the area's wind resource will warrant a future wind farm, making it the first mixed-use development in the state to utilize wind power technology.
Although wind energy is clean and plentiful, it is also an intermittent resource. As a result, there are a host of challenges that accompany incorporating electricity produced by wind into the power grid. The developer plans to use net metering, which allows them to bank the excess electricity when the system is producing more than the community is consuming - those credits will be used to compensate for the electricity that it uses from the grid when the wind is not blowing and the sun is not shining.
The Walters Group's green efforts at Stafford Park also involve LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification for every structure within the mixed-use community. The project will integrate senior housing, affordable non-age restrictive housing units, office space with a number of municipal facilities, and a large-scale retail complex. By securing LEED certification, Stafford Park will become one of the few private projects in the country entirely LEED certified.
The Walters Group
www.waltershomes.com
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