As part of its carbon-reduction plans, Boston-based nonprofit Partners HealthCare has signed a contract to buy power from a 28.8 MW wind project to be built in Antrim, N.H.
Partners will purchase 75% of the project’s capacity. The wind farm, owned by New York City-based Walden Green Energy, is expected to be completed in 2019 and have an annual power generation of nearly 95 million kWh.
Partners is an integrated health system founded by Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital. In addition to its two academic medical centers, the Partners system includes community and specialty hospitals, a managed care organization, community health centers, a physician network, home health and long-term care services, and other health-related entities. Partners is also the principal teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School.
“Partners HealthCare is committed to fighting climate change, and our agreement with Antrim is an important part of that commitment,” comments John Messervy, corporate director of design and construction at Partners. “It will reduce CO2 emissions and create demand for renewable energy while reducing our long-term energy costs.”
By 2025, Partners plans to purchase 100% of its energy from renewable sources. Moreover, its goal of becoming “net carbon-positive” means it will support the generation of more renewable energy than it needs – making the surplus available to the markets and communities in which it operates.
To reach that goal, Partners has adopted a three-part approach that includes reducing energy consumption by 30%, deploying on-site renewables generation and establishing a strategic renewables procurement program (of which the Antrim agreement is the latest example).
Henry Weitzner, founding partner of Walden Green Energy, adds, “With Partners’ support, this project will generate significant renewable energy, conserve over 900 acres of valuable land, generate 80 full-time-equivalent jobs during the construction period and create $54 million of economic benefit to the region.”
Photo courtesy of Partners HealthCare: A visual simulation of the Antrim, N.H., wind farm
