Windmills getting closer to the Whites - second and third Plymouth-area wind farms

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I dont have access to wind theory to give you the details. Realistically it costs a lot of money to build roads on the ridgeline and the developers want to maximize thair profits so they are going to mount them as close as possible. Envision the turbine string as a straight line. If the wind is hitting it perpedicular, the turbines can be closely spaced as the disturbed air corresponds somewhat with the outer radius of the tips (plus some distance for tip vortices). If the wind is coming in at an angle to the farm, the distance between the turbines has to be wider as the "shadow" of one turbine will tend to block the undisturbed air to the next turbine in line. Try sketching this up with the wind perpendicular to the string of towers, drawing straight lines back from the outer radius of the turbine blades, then do the same thing at a 45 degree angle. Drag out your college trig and you can see that the towers have to be spaced wider. The developer has to make sure that the adjacent turbine is not in the disturbed air of the upwind turbine as it would introduce vibration in the blades and reduce generation. At some point the turbines will get in each others shadow but hopefully its at a low wind speed which reduces the turbine availability. So unless the turbiens are built in a valley where the wind always blows in on direction, they have to be spaced wider.
 
OK, I can see the aerodynamic disturbance being an issue. Is there anything in the permitting process that requires or encourages a smaller disturbed area? Taking into account number * efficiency? In other words, is there anything in the process about disturbing the minimum amount of ridge line? I have no doubt that the business people will minimize the cost / maximize the profit ;) but at what expense to the environment?

Thanks,
Tim
 
Tim,
check out the link:
http://www.sprucemountainwind.com/SpruceMountainConstructionPresentation.pdf
This shows the construction of a 20 turbine wind farm in Woodstock, ME. There are lots of photos and you can see exactly what goes on to build a wind farm of this size. When looking at the size of the roads, you have to remember that they need to be significant enough for all of the extra heavy duty equipment that is utilized in such construction. Further, the roads must be built so that the primary crane can move from tower to tower with out dismantling. This means that not only does the road need to be wide enough, but the shoulder must be properly engineered so that the margins of the road do not collapse during movement of the primary crane. In reality, these roads are more highly engineered than most all roads in northern New England. This windfarm utilized a 440 ton crane with a lift height of up to 279'. Lifting of the rotors is typically done as an assembly which requires a secondary crane. So, each tower site requires enough space to stage both cranes and assemble the rotor. As you can see in the attached pics, they do not clear any more space than necessary, but at that, it is still quite a large area.
 
bikehikeskifish said:
I have no doubt that the business people will minimize the cost / maximize the profit ;) but at what expense to the environment?
Click to expand...

To me, this is the crux of the issue. How do you measure impact to the environment?

How do you measure the Visual Impact of Wind Power? How do you measure the Health and Climate Impact of fossil fuel power? How do you measure the Health and Climate Impact of nuclear power? Are we damaging our aquifers by allowing fracking? Hydro, the Three Gorges Dam has had a serious impact as has the Hoover Dam. You get the idea.

I would rather not have wind power on mountain ranges in New England but I believe that is better than the alternative - coal, gas, or nuclear.

We need regional, national, and global solutions; starting with a stabilzation of the world population.
 
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My understanding of the permitting process is that the regulators work to a set of predetermined standards and ultimately give a yes or no answer. There is a member on this site who does wind permitting who could probably comment but most likely cannot as its his livelyhood. I do not believe the Site Evaluation Commission (SEC) that regulates new power facilities factor in aesthetics as a significant factor. As the discussion has shown, one mans eyesore is another mans environmental monument. Groups in VT were successul in getting the Lowell wind project to install lighting that only operated when there were aircraft in the area to reduce visual impact but I expect this may not be allowed in Plymouth due to higher air traffic.

There would be input from fish and game on the impact to the local flora and fauna impacted by the damage to the ridgeline. If it could be proved that there was a long term impact to a threatened species that might be a foot in the door to argue against the footprint of the project. Unfortunately, the prior studies I have seen indicate that although there is a short term impact to this type of development but not a significant long term issue. One of the solutions used frequently is for the developer to pay into a "land bank" used by the state to purchase threatened areas or require the developer to protect a similiar area or mitigate a degraded area. That is ultimately an added cost to the project but rarely is a show stopper. The biggest potential impact to date is bats and birds, there could be issues with the turbines causing bird or bat deaths. The usual approach is to require the developer to do radar studies prior to the project and possibly modify the operating window of the turbine to deal with special occurances like seasonal migrations.

I dont know if the permitting applications are available electronically for the Millsfield project but they would make some good reading for those looking for info on industrial wind permitting in NH. I beleive there were at least three 6" thick volumes and all sorts of charts and maps. AMC was a participant in the Millsfield permitting so I expect they have a set and are reviewing them to see what hope they have of precluding development near Cardigan. The Town of Randolph NH was concerned about wind turbines on the Crescent Range a few years back and their approach was to buy the land and turn it into a town forest plus distributed what they could to the naitional forest (Pond of Safety area). They specifically excluded industrial wind from a future use. Unfortunately they cant stop the Jericho Mountain project just north of them, so like AMC at Cardigan they still may have some visual impact close by.
 
I've been searching internet looking for clues as to where Iberdrola Renewables wants to locate the test tower and came across this factoid. Groton Town website announces there is a public meeting scheduled for Wed in Groton about this very topic. See below:

TOWN OF GROTON PLANNING BOARD
The Groton Planning Board will hold a public hearing on Wednesday, December 19, 2012 at 7:00pm at the Groton Town House, 754 North Groton Road, Groton
Under consideration:
• a request by EDP Renewables (Lessee), EXPX2/MAXAM (Owner) for site plan review to permit a 60 meter meteorological weather tower to be placed adjacent to Hardy Country/Spruce Ridge Road (Map 5 Lot 164).
Groton Planning Board

If anyone local can attend this it may prove to be enlightening. The actual road mentioned indicates they are interested in Spruce Ridge a spur ridge located just north of Oregon Mt. I think the best part of the this ridge wind wise would be the high point and is actually in Alexandria. For whatever it is worth Oregon Mt may not be in the plans as it is also in Alexandria. The real drawing card for this project is not only the ridgetops but also proximity of the power lines that pass by this location as it minimizes cost of transmission lines. I'm thinking they have friendly owner willing to grant permission to erect tower to gather data, but eventual goal would be to erect bulk of project o hightpoint of spruce ridge which is in Alexandria. It depends on just how much land Maxam owns. Does Maxam own all way up to the ridge top? Facts like this would come out in the meeting. We can wait for meeting minutes, but they only issue exec summary and leave out more interesting background info.

Any takers to attend this thing?

I was up last weekend at our place in Plymouth. I drove up Sculptured Rocks Road to scout around and observed fresh paving on Spruce Road as if to make way for big trucks. I didn't see any No trespassing signs on this road, unlike several other roads that are heavily signed as "Private - no trespassing".
 
psmart said:
The full application for the Groton project is at www.iberdrolarenewables.us/groton/index.html

The last item is a map which might show the location.
Click to expand...

No that is the application for existing Tenney & Fletcher Mt Wind Farm. However the map at end does show nicely how small Spruce Ridge is and how Spruce Ridge could never accomadate 20-24 wind mills. They must have their eye on Oregon Mt Ridge the only ridgeline big enough to accomadate 20-24 towers and remotely comparable to Tenney & Fletcher Mt. It also shows the town line. That is what disturbs me about this. The general public doesn't appreciate the massive physical impact of a development like this. Most of the yea sayers who have responded have not actually driven within 2 miles of this development, but only seen them from as they pass by on Rt 93 to nicer areas. That is what the developer counts on when ramming these things through permit process. Check out the literature. they look very pretty in the glossy brochure.
 
bikehikeskifish said:
It will be interesting to see how this plays out when someone petitions for a revaluation or tax abatement because their view, on which they pay higher property taxes, is altered.

Tim
Click to expand...

When my home town started to add a view tax to some people's bills, my father asked if he got a break because he had an eyesore across the street. They said it didn't work that way.
 
Looks to me like you have it, I expect someone who is really interested in wind power project in NH would be well served by reviewing it in detail as a indication on how extensive the permitting process is.
 
Barkingcat said:
And for those interested in seeing simulated views of Iberdrola's planned Wild Meadows Wind Project, to be located just southeast of Mt. Cardigan (just south of Orange Mountain and the Skyland Trail), go to:

http://www.edrcompanies.com/wildmeadowswindproject/

For now, from the summit of Cardigan, one can avoid seeing the wind turbines by facing south. With the Wild Meadows project, that will no longer be the case.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the great link. Iberdrola Renewables is certainly not hiding the visual impact of their project. I know I am in the minority but seeing those wind turbines from the summit of Cardigan would not bother me.
 
Tom_Murphy said:
Thank you for the great link. Iberdrola Renewables is certainly not hiding the visual impact of their project. I know I am in the minority but seeing those wind turbines from the summit of Cardigan would not bother me.
Click to expand...

I'm not against wind power in general, but while this company is not hiding the visual impact of the towers from places like Cardigan, their simulated views show only the towers and not the roads and pads that would also be very visible from elevated areas. Full disclosure is important.
 
Although it would require many of us to think differently about our relationship with people in other countries, the most cost effective way to promote cleaner energy production on a global scale would be for first world countries to pay third world countries to build the most efficient coal fired power plants equipped with the maximum achievable pollution control technologies.

That would benefit our environment more than wind turbines in NH.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/13/b...-way-as-demand-for-coal-surges-worldwide.html
 
Tom_Murphy said:
... I know I am in the minority but seeing those wind turbines from the summit of Cardigan would not bother me.
Click to expand...

Add me to that minority. Taking responsibility for your own power by installing machines which generate it close by the end users is a good thing. And I'll take wind mills over coal-fired power plants (or nuclear for that matter - those just kick their waste problems to future generations) any day.
 
All three projects (one built, two proposed) are sending millions of our tax dollars to Spain.
 
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