Wind Watch: Industrial Wind Energy News
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch to help keep readers informed about developments related to industrial wind energy. They are the products of the organizations or individuals noted and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of National Wind Watch.
Bulgaria scraps incentives for new renewable energy installations
Feb 26 (Reuters) – Bulgaria’s parliament scrapped preferential prices for new renewable energy installations on Thursday as the country is struggling to cut deficits in the energy sector and keep a lid on consumers’ utility bills. Wind power farms and photovoltaic parks mushroomed in 2011, after Bulgaria introduced generous subsidies for renewable energy, guaranteed for 20 years and committed to buy all the energy produced by them. But the incentives have weighed on the power costs in the European Union’s . . .
Appeals court strikes down Falmouth’s permitting of wind turbine
An appellate court ruled on Thursday, February 26, that the Town of Falmouth erred in erecting Wind 1 without a special permit. Wind 1 is one of two town-owned turbines located off Blacksmith Shop Road at Falmouth’s Wastewater Treatment Facility. It was put up in 2009, and since then, many neighbors have complained of mental distress and poor health caused by the turbine’s sound pressures and noise. Neil P. Andersen is one of the nine abutters listed as plaintiffs in . . .
Growing wind industry in Oklahoma needs greater transparency, community involvement, panel says
TULSA — Future development of Oklahoma’s wind industry will need greater transparency, collaboration and community involvement if the state is to realize its potential as one of the nation’s biggest wind producers, speakers said Thursday at a roundtable on wind regulation. The forum at the University of Tulsa’s College of Law comes as lawmakers consider more than a dozen bills to reform incentives for wind energy and put additional siting regulations in place. Oklahoma’s first commercial-scale wind farm began operations . . .
Court: Falmouth should have obtained permit before erecting turbine
FALMOUTH — The town of Falmouth should have obtained a special zoning permit before it put up one of its controversial wind turbines, the Massachusetts Court of Appeals ruled Thursday. The court ruled in favor of a cluster of neighbors who sued the town building commissioner and Zoning Board of Appeals over its 2009 installation of Wind 1, one of the twin wind turbines erected at the town’s wastewater treatment facility. The Appeals Court ruled that just because the turbines . . .
House committee advances bill placing location restrictions on new wind farms
A bill adding new regulations and oversight of Oklahoma’s booming wind industry passed a House committee on Tuesday. House Bill 1549, one of several bills filed in the 2015 Legislature that target the wind industry, places limits on where companies can build new wind farms. The proposed measure would prevent new wind farms from being built near schools, hospitals or airports. The bill was written by Rep. Earl Sears, R-Bartlesville. He says landowners and the wind industry were consulted when . . .
Are industrial wind turbines coming to Kent County?
It has been almost a year since the Kent County News published a front-page article announcing Apex Clean Energy plans to establish an industrial wind turbine farm near Kennedyville. So where does this project stand today? In the article, Tyson Utt, an Apex development director stated that 25 to 45 wind turbines up to 500 feet tall would be erected if wind conditions were found favorable and land leases were obtained. Industrial turbines of this height are required to be . . .
Oklahoma bill setting new wind farm restrictions advances
OKLAHOMA CITY — A bill by Rep. Earl Sears, R-Bartlesville, to place new restrictions on the growing wind industry in Oklahoma has passed a House committee. The House Energy and Natural Resources Committee voted 11-2 on Tuesday for House Bill 1549, which would restrict how close giant wind turbines can be built near airports, hospitals and schools, and to require wind energy producers to notify nearby property owners before construction. The bill also requires a public hearing to be held . . .
City Council’s split vote derails wind turbine effort
OCEAN CITY — After a years-long effort to obtain the necessary state and federal approvals and a favorable recommendation from the town’s Planning and Zoning Commission, a downtown property owner last week was denied an opportunity to erect a private wind turbine on his bayfront property by the City Council. For the last few years, Jim Motsko has been working to secure the necessary permits and approvals to put up a 39-foot tall wind turbine on his bayfront property on . . .
Government threat to Cllrs over ban of wind farms
Laois councillors who voted to remove all areas designated suitable for wind farms from the county plan, have been threatened with ministerial action if they go ahead. Last August 2014 councillors voted to wipe out every site designated as suited for wind farms, in an attempt to put a spoke in plans for any future industrial windfarms. At the time it was met with claps and cheers in council chambers by anti-wind campaigners, many from Cullenagh, where Coillte were granted . . .
Holyrood wind farm rulings are ‘sweeping away democracy’
A North publisher has accused the Scottish Government of having a “complete disregard for democracy” over its handling of wind farm applications. Dr Keith Whittles claimed the government should not have the power to give the go-ahead to windfarm applications which have not been supported by local authorities. He is also critical of Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) over its guidelines for windfarm visualisations – a digital or photographic means of predicting the scale and impact of windfarms. Developers are required . . .
