November 13, 2010
Massachusetts

Turbine planned for Colony Place

By Emily Clark, Wicked Local Plymouth, www.wickedlocal.com 13 November 2010

PLYMOUTH – Colony Place Development LLC has plans to site a 302-foot wind turbine on 33 acres in the vicinity of 120 Colony Place, where Sleepy’s, The Mattress Professionals building stands.

The applicant owns Colony Place. Several residents posed questions Monday night at the Planning Board meeting, but no one spoke against the proposal.

A balloon test is set for this Saturday, Nov. 13, when a balloon will be positioned at the site and raised to the height of the proposed tower.

Aeronautica Wind Power, a mid-scale wind turbine company, will provide the turbine.

“This is a project, I want you to know, that has Plymouth written onto it and into it,” Former Energy Committee Chairman and Aeronautica Wind Power co-founder Brian Kuhn said.

In just three years, America has constructed the equivalent of 29 nuclear power plants via new wind turbines, he added, reducing carbon dioxide generation and the demand for oil. This is clean energy, he added, and could be used to reach the town’s goal of having all town offices completely self-sufficient energy-wise by 2020.

Richard Beatson of Grabau Drive asked why the shadow flicker effect wouldn’t impact Colony Place businesses.

Atlantic Design engineer Richard Tabaczynski noted that the commercial property includes retail establishments and restaurants with people coming and going. Shadow flicker impacts homes, primarily, Tabaczynski added.

Attorney Ed Angley, representing the applicant, noted that shadow flicker effect is an early morning phenomenon and Colony Place owns the buildings and can mitigate it.

Shadow flicker effect is the strobing, on-again-off-again shadow/light display caused by the turning of a turbine’s blades. Europe has adopted a 30-hour annual shadow flicker effect standard for turbines, which the continent uses as a nuisance-level benchmark. The rotation of the earth and the movement of the sun’s rays limit this effect on a particular location. Some studies suggest flicker effect can be detrimental to sleep, cause anxiety and be an overall nuisance. Other studies refute these findings.

The Planning Board continued the meeting to Nov. 22 in anticipation of more data regarding the turbine.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2010/11/13/turbine-planned-for-colony-place-2/