Catanoso, who runs the Boardwalk landmark with his three brothers and fellow investors in Atlantic Pier Amusements, hopes to erect the first of three 12-story-high wind turbines three-quarters of the way down the pier by summer. A bill that would overturn a long-standing prohibition on constructing energy-generating stations within 500 feet of the tidal water line was sent to Gov. Christie for his signature last month.
Catanoso envisions the turbines, which would cost $600,000 each, as the centerpiece of an "energy education" center where school groups and others could learn about innovations in green-energy technology before taking a spin on the Ferris wheel and Tilt-a-Whirl.
They could marvel up close at the 121-foot-tall turbines with 35-foot rotors. Positioned to maximize the stiff ocean breezes, the turbines could generate up to 190,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, Catanoso said.
The power - enough for about 30 single-family homes - would be sold to offset the pier's utility costs, though Catanoso acknowledged it could take years before the company recouped the money it spent to build the turbines.
"More important is that we will be sending a message that we all need to start moving down this road toward green energy," Catanoso said. "I think this will do that in a big way."
Catanoso has long mused about ways to harness the wind that, this time of year, cuts across the pier like an icy knife. Atlantic Pier Amusements has leased the location and operated the rides and other attractions there since 1992. Trump Entertainment owns the property, which is opposite the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort.
"From the day we started working there, we joked that it was so windy on the pier you could power a windmill," Catanoso said. "It always seemed to me to be the perfect spot for it."
