Wind Power News: February 2008
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch in its noncommercial educational effort to help keep readers informed about developments related to industrial wind energy. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of National Wind Watch. They are the products of and owned by the organizations or individuals noted and are shared here according to “fair use” and “fair dealing” provisions of copyright law.
Wind farm battle set to go to court
The Te Uku wind farm stoush looks destined to be decided in court whatever the decision from the just-ended hearing , says Bruce Holloway. Wel Networks’ proposal to build a $200 million wind farm at Te Uku will almost certainly end up in the Environment Court. The hearing into the 28-turbine project, which began on November 19, finally wrapped up in Ngaruawahia yesterday, with four commissioners chaired by Michael Savage now charged with ruling on Wel’s application. But the battle . . . Complete story »
Villagers vow to fight wind farm plans
An action group has been set up to fight plans to develop a wind farm with up to eight turbines. Brownview Energy Ltd has submitted a document to Hambleton and Stockton councils about the scheme being set up on land between Seamer and Hilton, near Yarm. Residents have raised concerns over the proposals and say more research should be carried out before anything is given the go-ahead. Each wind turbine is expected to generate more than 5m kilowatts a year. . . . Complete story »
Resident suing turbine developer
Intermittent humming from a transformer station has caused numerous adverse affects, an Amaranth man claims. Paul Thompson, who lives near the station, filed a $1.25 million lawsuit last week against Canadian Hydro Developers. “I’ve been at it for a couple of months, but I just wanted to get it all lined up,” he says of the suit, which was filed in Newmarket. “It had to be served by the 23rd of February (because of the statutes of limitations), that’s why . . . Complete story »
Lawyer seeking full EA; request, related to wind power proposals, would cover all of Chatham-Kent
A local lawyer, representing the Chatham-Kent Wind Action Group, is calling for an environmental assessment for the entire municipality. Doug Desmond has sent the 10-page request to both the environmental assessment branch and environmental approvals branch of the Ontario Ministry of the Environment. Desmond is basing his request on the fact a minimum of 40 per cent of the municipality is being studied for various wind power proposals. According to his submission, this could result in up to 1,000 or . . . Complete story »
Turbine proposal advances; up to 125 megawatts would be produced
The latest wind energy project in the municipality could see construction by the fall of 2009, say officials with AIM PowerGen Corporation. The Toronto-based company hosted an information session Thursday at St. Mary’s Hall for the Erieau-Blenheim wind project, which would consist of between 62 to 70 turbines. These would be located near Blenheim, Cedar Springs, Dealtown and Shrewsbury and provide 100 to 125 megawatts of power. Jay Wilgar, project manager, said a lot of research has gone into the . . . Complete story »
Wind farm rejected over bat fears
Plans for a wind farm in north Devon have been rejected on environmental grounds. Torridge District Council turned down the scheme on the grounds of visual impact, noise and the impact on bats at the site near Stibb Cross. Developer Ecotricity is considering whether to appeal against the decision. More than 200 people objected to the four turbines which Ecotricity said would have provided power for about 7,000 homes. Ecotricity said the wind farm could create 9.2 megawatts of power . . . Complete story »
Wind power monopoly feared
Ontario’s new winner-take-all system could see one firm nab most of Crown land left for turbines Cameron Lewis figured he was in for bad news when he learned the people at the head of the line had been there for five days. Lewis had come to Peterborough to apply for wind power sites on Ontario Crown land. He had arrived 11 hours before the provincial Ministry of Natural Resources would begin accepting applications – at 8 a.m., Wednesday, Feb. 20. . . . Complete story »
Clayton law relies on a faulty noise measure
Quoting from the PPM statement in our flawed Clayton Local Law: “Frequency-weighting of the sound pressure level is obtained with the standardized dynamic characteristic ‘fast’ or ‘slow’ and weighting A, B, or C; unless indicated otherwise, the A-weighting is understood to be applicable.” It is true that there are several standardized methods of measuring noise. That is the (half) truth PPM Atlantic Renewable has written for our Clayton officials. PPM, however, withheld one simple and overriding fact: dbA-weighting excludes the . . . Complete story »
Wind farm, trucking company considered at planning commission
Mighty winds blow through Kern County, and plans for a wind-farm project that could create energy dominated a lengthy discussion at Thursday’s Kern County Planning Commission meeting. The commission voted 3-1 to support the PdV Wind Energy Project by Power Partners Southwest LLC, an entity affiliated with enXco, to move forward with plans to place 100 to 300 wind turbines on nearly 6,000 acres about 15 miles west of Rosamond. Dennis Scullion of enXco said the project would generate up . . . Complete story »
State regulators clear Pioneer Prairie Wind Farm
State regulators have granted a waiver to a Houston firm allowing construction of a $600 million wind farm in Howard and Mitchell counties. Construction is scheduled to begin this year on Horizon Wind Energy’s Pioneer Prairie Wind Farm. The developing will consist of 182 turbines spread over 60 square miles near the Minnesota border. The first phase of the project will involve the erection of 122 Vestas V82 wind turbines on the eastern part of the site, according to the . . . Complete story »
