Thanet shudders to wind farm vibrations
The isle has rocked to vibrations from work off the area’s coast as power giants Vattenfall build a huge wind farm project, writes Tom Betts.
The loud bangs came from the Sea Jack vessel which is currently pile-driving the sea bed in order to install the foundations.
The noise was heard last night (Monday, June29) across Thanet from Birchington as far round the coast as Broadstairs and even Ramsgate.
One of the isle’s most popular blog sites served as a forum for people to report the disturbances, which went on late until the night.
More than a dozen comments were left on the Eastcliff Richard weblog the following morning.
One reader, who said he’d heard the booms as late as 2am, compared the noise to a dinosaur blockbuster Jurassic Park.
In a famous scene the pounding footsteps of a T-Rex shake the earth.
Asked if the source of the noise was the work, a spokeswoman for Vattenfall said: “Yes, it was from the construction of the Thanet Offshore Wind Farm.”
She apologised on Vattenfall’s behalf if people’s sleep was interrupted.
She said: “Vattenfall is indeed sorry for disturbing people’s sleep. We have put in over 40 of the 100 foundation piles since March and this is the first time anything has been heard.”
Around 40 of the 100 foundation piles have been put in place since work began in March.
The reason for the shudders and vibrations reaching land this time around was put down to the weather.
The spokeswoman said: “It is due to an exceptional combination of weather conditions. The relatively still night mixed with a light easterly wind meant the sound was blown to the shore. The fog also tends to concentrate the noise.”
She added: “It took approximately five years to research, produce documents such as an environmental impact analysis and obtain the consents to build the wind farm. It is from that authority we are going ahead.”
Although further booms have not been ruled out the spokeswoman stressed the company would look at the issue if problems continued.
She said: “If the noise, and the timing of it, is causing a disturbance to the people of Thanet then we will have internal discussions to see what can be changed to improve the situation.”
The Thanet Offshore Wind farm project is being built around seven miles off of Foreness Point and on completion will be the largest of its kind in the world with 100 V90 wind turbines.
Vattenfall say it will provide energy for around 240,000 homes a year.
30 June 2009
Tags: Wind power, Wind energy
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