Falmouth 2 Wind Turbines 4 Sale or Lease

The Town of Falmouth has voted in November of 2019 to spend 2.5 million and more down the road to take down its two Vestas V-82 type 1.65 megawatt wind turbines. The town plans to place the turbines in storage until they can be moved out of town.

In January of 2019 the Select Board directed the town attorney and manager to prepare three request for proposals, RFPs.

(1) sale of wind turbine(s);

(2) enter into an agreement which removes the blades and nacelle and re-purposes the tower(s) for use as communications towers, and lastly;

(3) dismantle the turbine(s) and remove for private use.

There is no RFP and no Updates as of July 2020.

The Massachusetts courts shut down the nuisance wind turbines in June of 2017. The turbines were installed without Special Permits as required by zoning regulations and no hearings were held between neighbors and zoning board.

The Falmouth town-owned Vestas V-82 wind turbines were assembled based on the Neg Micon NM-82 designed in the late 1990s. Vestas purchased Neg Micon in 2004.

In 1999, both NEG Micon and Vestas announced major problems with gear boxes in specific turbine models, resulting in expensive retrofit programs. Source: (Windpower Monthly, July 2000).

A state semi-quasi renewable energy agency today known as Massachusetts Clean Energy in 2004 purchased two Vestas V-82 turbines. The Vestas V-82 and Neg Micon NM-82 are both gear box-driven wind turbines.

By 2005 the state of Massachusetts was stuck with two gear box-driven Vestas V-82 turbines which stayed in storage until their arrival in Falmouth in 2010. The Massachusetts renewable agency had to give the Town of Falmouth one million dollars in renewable energy credits in advance.

These state owned turbines could not be sold at auction no one bid on them.

The question for Falmouth taxpayers is if the wind turbines were in storage between 2005 and 2010 because no one wanted the gear-driven turbines why 15 years later would you put them back in storage expecting to sell or lease turbines assembled in 2004?

These type turbines designed from the late 1990s have a multitude of issues.

Vestas warned prior to installation the turbines generate 110 decibels of noise. The distance to meet 40 dBA for Wind II, a Vestas V82 with sound power level of 110 dBA, is approximately 891 meters or 2923 feet from residential homes.

The wind turbine blades are old worn and made of fiber composite structures, including sandwich structures, joined by adhesive layers.

The gearboxes are original and are antique.

The Town of Falmouth believes the two wind turbines have a 30-year life and are a valuable asset. They failed to account for the additional spending necessary to re-power a wind turbine and extend its life beyond 20 years.

The town still owes a 5 million dollar American Recovery and Reinvestment Act loan on Falmouth Wind II.

Video:

Aftermath: What Happens To Wind Turbines When They Die?