The greater Holland community took a big step into its energy future today with a groundbreaking ceremony that celebrated the commencement of major construction on the Holland Energy Park.
“The important conversation about energy that has taken place in our community for most of a decade has brought us to today,” said David Koster, general manager of the Holland Board of Public Works. “This is an exceptional community that undertook an exceptional process. Now our task is to carry out the will of the community with the creation of an exceptional facility.”
When it goes fully operational early in 2017 the $200-million Holland Energy Park will showcase a variety of environmental and aesthetic considerations that include:
- A bold, modern building design that creates an attractive eastern gateway to the city
- A 50 percent reduction in carbon emissions and the virtual elimination of solid particle pollutants
- Double the fuel efficiency of Holland’s present power generation
- The development of open, public space that will integrate with the Macatawa Greenway trail system.
- An expansion on Holland’s innovative snowmelt system and, potentially, district heating
The facility will use the latest combined-cycle natural gas generating technology to produce up to 145 megawatts of power to meet the needs of a growing community.
On hand to help celebrate the occasion were representatives from a number of partners in the project, including HDR, Barton Malow and Siemens Energy. They were joined by Mayor Kurt Dykstra and other community and business leaders.
“The Holland Energy Park will serve our community as a resource, a gateway and a destination,” Koster said. “This is a very exciting beginning.”
