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Massachusetts is searching for every blustery nook and cranny it can find, from the tops of former dumps to a vast military reservation, as it whips up its push for wind energy production.
Gov. Deval Patrick has already set a goal of generating 2,000 megawatts of wind power in Massachusetts by the year 2020 - an effort that may require the installation of as many as 3,000 wind turbines.
So far, the state boasts 11 commercial-scale turbines and dozens of smaller scale versions.
While massive wind power initiatives like the 130-turbine Cape Wind project to be located in federal waters off Nantucket Sound have garnered the most attention, there are nearly 200 other projects in the pipeline or under consideration.
They range from single turbines in dense urban areas to a 15 megawatt, 10-turbine wind farm being developed by Berkshire Wind Power on Brodie Mountain in Hancock.
The state has identified about 350 proposed turbines, including Cape Wind, although that number is expected to steadily increase as projects move further along the development pipeline and it becomes clearer how many turbines each site can sustain.
Officials said that not every proposal will become a reality.
One of the latest additions to the list is a major new proposed wind farm at Massachusetts Military Reservation on Cape Cod.
The Massachusetts National Guard on Thursday filed a plan with the Federal Aviation Administration and Air Force Space Command for review of 17 possible sites to locate individual 400-foot wind turbines.
If approved, the turbines could generate enough electricity to power the entire facility.
State officials also are urging city and town officials to look at sometimes neglected open spaces - capped landfills - as additional possible locations for wind turbines and solar energy arrays. The administration is planning to host an all-day workshop in Mansfield on Wednesday on that topic.
The workshop will look at issues ranging from siting considerations to potential impacts on landfill caps and economic incentives available to minimize installation costs.
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