SOURCE:
https://www.liherald.com/longbeach/stories/hempstead-wind-turbine-clean-energy-savings,221892
By Chris Colucci - April 24, 2026
In Dec. 2011, a wind turbine standing more than 120-feet tall was installed at the Point Lookout Department of Conservation and Waterways building. The turbine was one of the town’s first steps in a clean energy initiative, which would also include the installation of solar panel arrays at town facilities, a transition to roughly 50,000 LED streetlights and more.
The decisions led to the Town of Hempstead being recognized in 2016 as a Clean Energy Community by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, as well as recognition in 2020 as a bronze-certified Climate Smart Community through the New York State Department of Conservation.
Town of Hempstead Supervisor John Ferretti explained some of the turbine’s performance metrics in a written statement. “Over its lifetime, the turbine has generated 3,481,233 kWh (3.5 GWh) of clean energy — averaging 242,518 kWh annually, or 181% of its original estimate — resulting in nearly $700,000 in electricity bill savings for the Town, in addition to the avoidance of over 930 tons of CO2 emissions.”
For context, one home could run its entire electrical needs — powering every appliance, lighting up every room, blasting the A/C all summer, etc. — for more than 20 years on the total output generated by the turbine in a single year. The CO2 emissions avoided total as much as burning more than 19 gallons of gasoline every day for 15 years.
“It was always intended to be a supplemental part of the energy mix in the town and it’s acting quite well in that capacity,” said Adrienne Esposito, the executive director of the Citizens Campaign for the Environment. “It’s one tiny wind turbine that’s just meant to add electricity onto the grid that’s clean and safe and emissions-free, and it’s doing that.”
“The unit maintains a remarkable 98% uptime,” the statement continued, “with pauses typically due only to low wind speeds (under 7 mph) or PSEG grid stability requirements.”
A turbine’s “uptime” is, essentially, its ability to be operational and capture available wind whenever weather permits. The Lido turbine has met expectations and performed as efficiently as possible given the climate, which has recently been more favorable to wind power. “We’ve had more wind over the last several years than we traditionally have,” explained Esposito.
Throughout its functional lifespan, the turbine at Lido Beach has required no major repairs, even after Hurricane Sandy devastated the area less than a year after it was installed. The operational maintenance has been routine, including standard part replacements including yaw motors and sensors.
One recurring critique of wind turbines, in general, is their potential effect on migratory birds and the flight paths of local wildlife. Recently published research could indicate the concern may not be as worrisome as it otherwise appears.
Last month, Vattenfall, a green energy company based in Sweden, released the results of monitoring one offshore turbine for 19 months. After reviewing more than 2,000 bird paths, no collisions were found between birds and the turbine. In 2023, the Public Library of Science published research based on similar data compiled over a 13-year period and found just over 3,700 bird deaths attributed to wind turbines. As the paper went to press, specific bird data was not available for the Lido turbine.