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Wind Power News: November 2013
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.
Des Jurassiens viennent à Genève dire leur opposition aux éoliennes des SIG
GENEVE – Les riverains d’un des deux derniers projets éoliens des Services Industriels de Genève se disent déterminés à l’empêcher. «Nous vous offrons cinq éoliennes, vous pouvez les mettre dans la rade de Genève! C’est le cadeau de Noël des Francs-Montagnards aux Genevois.» Jean-Marc Baume brandit un photomontage montrant des éoliennes implantées à côté du Jet d’eau, qu’elles égalent voire dépassent en hauteur, toutes proportions gardées. Avec d’autres membres du comité Librevent, ce Jurassien est venu dire son opposition aux . . . Complete story »
Turbine catches fire in La Ventosa
[On Tuesday, a 2-MW Gamesa wind turbine burned up in the Stipa Naya wind power facility. Police and company employees tried to prevent journalists from taking photographs.] Este martes los vecinos de esta comunidad fueron testigos de la quema de un aerogenerador del parque “Stipa Naya” de la empresa eólica española GAMESA, considerada como uno de los principales fabricantes internacionales de aerogeneradores del mundo y líder en el sector de la fabricación, venta e instalación de turbinas eólicas. Al parecer . . . Complete story »
Un parc éolien vandalisé dans le Gard
[The cables of a wind measurement mast in Plans (Gard) were cut. It was needed to finalize a wind turbine construction project. This is the second time in two years that it has been the target of vandalism. The act was discovered by opponents when they arrived for a demonstration Saturday.] Les opposants au projet de parc éolien ont trouvé plus radicaux qu’eux: aux Plans, dans le Gard, les riverains avaient prévu de manifester ce samedi. Mais en arrivant sur . . . Complete story »
Jonesport to vote on moratorium on new wind energy projects
JONESPORT, Maine – Jonesport voters will gather at a special town meeting next week to decide on a proposal that would impose a temporary moratorium on new wind energy projects. Officials of the picturesque fishing village have approved two small projects to allow wind turbines to generate power, but the process generated some controversy and opposition. The town’s planning board asked the Board of Selectmen to put a moratorium on the ballot at a special town meeting, and the selectmen agreed. . . . Complete story »
Eugene Water & Electric Board sues over wind power
A decade after eagerly signing a long-term contract to buy power from an Eastern Oregon and Eastern Washington wind farm, the Eugene Water & Electric Board is now suing to try to limit how much energy it must buy from the farm, the largest in the Pacific Northwest. The move comes as EWEB wallows in excess power, some of which it has to sell at a loss. The utility’s Eugene customers use about 285 average megawatts, leaving EWEB with another . . . Complete story »
WESRA: recycling bad legislation
December 3rd will likely be deja-vu day on Beacon Hill when state lawmakers hear testimony regarding the Wind Energy Siting Reform Act (WESRA). The controversial legislation before the state’s Joint Committee on Telecommunication, Utilities, and Energy are H.2980 by Rep. Smizik (D-Brookline) and S.1591 by Sen. Finegold (D-Andover). It was just over 2 years ago (Oct 20, 2011) when 8 hours of testimony on the same bill proposals (by the same two) were entertained by the same committee at the . . . Complete story »
Tech leaders, economists split over clean energy’s prospects
There is a broad scientific consensus that to keep global warming in check, we need to phase out 80 percent of all oil, coal and natural gas by midcentury. President Obama has set a nonbinding target to do precisely that. There are technologists who say this national goal is well within reach, but there are also economists who are quite pessimistic about those prospects. And you can find this range of opinion on the University of California, Berkeley campus. “It’s . . . Complete story »
District court upholds biological opinion for wind energy project In Imperial County, California
On November 20, 2013, the United States District Court for the Southern District of California rejected a challenge by various plaintiffs and upheld the biological opinion and incidental take statement issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) for the Ocotillo Wind Energy Facility Project (Project) located in the Sonoran Desert in Imperial County, California. See The Protect Our Communities Foundation v. Ashe, No. 12-cv-2212 (S.D. Cal. Nov. 20, 2013) (pdf). The proposed Project, a utility-scale wind power project, would be comprised of . . . Complete story »
Transformer fire causes spill in Sherman County
A transformer caught fire at the base of a Bigelow Canyon wind turbine over the weekend, spilling an estimated 600 gallons of transformer oil. A representative of the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) spills unit reported that PGE, the owner of the wind farm, reported the fire and hired SMF Environmental to clean up the spill. DEQ asked for a spill report identifying what happened, what actions were taken to clean up the site and to restore it to . . . Complete story »
North turbine down due to “slight” foundation imbalance
FAIRHAVEN – The north turbine is down for maintenance after a routine inspection found its foundation to be slightly off-level. Each of Fairhaven’s turbines are secured into the ground with bedrock anchors that stick through three feet of soil and attach to the turbines’ concrete foundations. Turbine Developer Sumul Shah said the turbine has slightly sunk into that soil area so one side of the foundation is one-fifth of an inch lower than the other. Though Shah said that mean’s the . . . Complete story »
