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Wind Power News: October 2011
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.
St. Columban wind project gets year extension to build transmission lines
Faced with the need to build a 45-kilometre transmission connection, St. Columban Energy LP has asked for and received an extension from the Ministry of the Environment to submit an REA (Renewal Energy Approval) application for the 15-turbine project. A letter from the MOE to Julia Ciccaglione, VP of Regulatory and Government Affairs for Veresen Inc. was in the council package for Huron East council at its Oct. 18 meeting. Clerk-Administrator Brad Knight told councillors that the project will be . . . Complete story »
Falmouth residents should be reimbursed for turbines
We hear a lot of talk that both the federal government and the state feel the need to provide funding for wind projects, as they have done in Falmouth, because the nation needs to experiment with new sources of energy. This need is fueled by the recognition that climate change needs to be reversed, and sooner or later we will surely run out of fossil fuel. With all good intentions, the federal government and the state provided the funding for . . . Complete story »
Villagers celebrate as wind turbine bid is blown away
Villagers are relieved after a plan to erect a massive wind turbine has been blown away by councillors. The application to install the 284ft turbine and substation on land by High Elms Lane in Benington was recommended for approval by officers at East Herts Council. But councillors decided the answer wasn’t blowing in the wind and voted to throw the application out, at last Wednesday’s meeting of the development control committee. Residents in neighbouring Watton-at-Stone are celebrating the defeat of . . . Complete story »
Lenox wind panel to convene
LENOX – The town’s new Wind Energy Panel convenes its first public meeting on Monday to schedule visits to a potential turbine site atop Lenox Mountain and begin researching the pros and cons of a feasibility study prepared by the alternative-energy firm Weston Solutions, Inc., of Concord, N.H. The study claims that one or two municipal turbines could produce significant energy for town buildings and taxpayer savings. “We intend to be fair and equitable,” said the committee’s moderator, Selectman Kenneth Fowler. . . . Complete story »
Govt to counter wind resistance
A dairy farmer’s blockade of a proposed wind farm in the Lower South East has triggered an aggressive response from the State Government. Richard Paltridge, Eight Mile Creek, successfully won his appeal against the District Council of Grant in June after it had given approval to a $175-million, 46-turbine wind farm development. The Environmental Resources and Development Court overturned the council’s decision that led to the State Government last week releasing a proposed Ministerial Development Plan Amendment, which sets guidelines . . . Complete story »
PUC to consider contract extension for National Grid/Deepwater
The Public Utilities Commission has scheduled a hearing on the Power Purchase Agreement between National Grid and Deepwater Wind to buy power from the 5-turbine offshore wind farm proposed for three miles south of Block Island. The hearing will consider a request from National Grid that an extension of its contract with Deepwater, which it requested on September 29, be affirmed by the PUC. The contract was set to expire on June 30, a year after it was approved by . . . Complete story »
Why build wind turbines at all?
Your article (Courier 14/10) asks the question “Is it realistic to expect all wind farms to be built outside scenic areas?). In reply I would ask – why build wind turbines at all? They are grossly inefficient and have to be backed up by conventional power stations when “the wind refuses to blow”! Their output is grossly exaggerated by talking only in terms of their “capacity”, as if this is what they actually produce. Of course, with the variation of . . . Complete story »
Austrian wind farm on Peca raises questions in Slovenia
A project which would see eight wind turbines erected on the Austrian side of the border mountain Peca has stirred up a debate in Slovenia, as opponents of the project claim it would have a considerable impact on the environment and water supply in the Slovenian municipalities at the foot of the mountain. The rest of this news item is available to subscribers. Complete story »
COP17 plan puts wind up wildlife groups
Keen to show off its environmental credentials, the eThekwini electricity department is rushing to install wind turbines at the Bluff military base ahead of the UN COP 17 climate change meeting, placing a crucial bat roosting area in jeopardy. The department has come under fire over its plans to showcase the “green energy” turbines close to one of South Africa’s largest colonies of slit-faced bats. It is racing to install the second-hand turbines in a prominent spot above the Durban . . . Complete story »
FMM questions wisdom of additional mandates
Friends of Maine’s Mountains (FMM) has expressed skepticism about an activist group’s plans for a ballot initiative that would place greater mandates on Maine utilities and their customers. “We have not seen the specifics, but based on what was said at Environment Maine’s news conference this sounds like another well-intended but bad policy,” said Chris O’Neil of FMM. Environment Maine announced Wednesday that they will begin gathering signatures for a 2012 referendum that would “control energy costs, create jobs and . . . Complete story »