A commercial-scale wind turbine has been erected on the Brooklyn waterfront at the Sunset Park Material Recovery Facility (MRF). The 100 kW wind turbine is more than 160 feet tall and is expected to generate up to 4 percent of the energy required to run the MRF. Combined with an existing solar power installation, up to 20 percent of the MRF’s energy will be generated from on-site renewables.
Australian-based Sims Metal Management, which operates the recycling center, paid for the turbine’s $750,000 cost, according to a company spokesperson, who said the turbine will pay for itself in about five years, depending on wind and electricity costs.
