Study says turbine flickers will be minimal
Scituate — A study completed by the University of Massachusetts Wind Energy Center shows that the shadow flicker of a potential wind turbine on the Driftway would have a minimal effect on local residents.
Both department of public works director Al Bangert and renewable energy committee Chairman Paul Reidy said the report was a step toward putting the turbine on the proposed
Driftway location, near the wastewater treatment plant. Bangert stressed that the study was completed by what he called a “completely impartial party.”
“They determined that shadow flicker is a non-issue,” he said.
Reidy said the study served to support the renewable energy committee’s choice of a location for the turbine.
“I think it’s further backup that we’ve done our homework and we know what we’re doing,” he said.
The renewable energy committee ordered the study after residents who would live near the proposed turbine complained about the possible shadow over their homes. The study, which attempted to determine the areas near the Driftway that would be covered by the blades’ shadows, compared three possible turbine types: a 600-kilowatt Fuhrlander turbine, a 1,500-kilowatt General Electric turbine and a 2,000-kilowatt Vestas turbine.
In each case, a shadow would fall on the nearby Widow’s Walk Golf Course. Each turbine would only cast a shadow on the golf course during winter, with the smaller two turbines only casting the shadow between 7:30 and 9 a.m.
Each of the three turbines would also cast a shadow on the nearby Country Club condominium development on the Driftway. The largest turbine would be expected to cast a shadow on those homes for no longer than 28 minutes a day for a total of four hours and 50 minutes in a year.
Those shadows would fall between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. in January and February and between 4:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. in October and November (3:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. after daylight-saving time).
By Brian P. Nanos
Scituate Mariner
29 April 2009
Tags: Wind power, Wind energy
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