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[IMGCAP(1)]STAFFORD TWP., NJ-The Walters Group has set up a temporary 60-meter wind power test tower at its under-construction Stafford Park mixed-use development as part of a one-year study aimed at examining the site's potential for wind turbine energy. The Barnegat-based developer has signed an agreement with the Rutgers University Institute for Marine and Coastal Sciences to carry out the study.

[IMGCAP(2)]The aim is to eventually initiate a wind power project at the 370-acre redevelopment as part of an overall renewable energy effort. Walters concluded a three-year permitting process with a groundbreaking for Stafford Park in May. At build-out, it will consist of 650,000 sf of retail, much of which is slated for delivery this summer, along with 667 housing units, 25,000 sf of office space, and recreational facilities.

Walters' effort at Stafford Park includes everything from LEED certification for every structure, to a solar farm. "When it's not windy, the solar farm we're planning to build will come into play," says Ed Walters Jr., founder and partner of the company. Plans call for net metering, which allows for the banking of excess electricity when the system is producing more than the project is consuming, he says.

"We're adding our instrumentation to make a well-defined evaluation of the wind resource to determine if it would be a good idea to put wind turbines there or not," says Dr. Richard Dunk, a research scientist at the Rutgers group, which is using student interns to monitor the process. "We will let Walters make the decision."