Neighbor News
Falmouth Moving Wind Turbines Going Insane
Select Board Asks 2.5 million to start moving turbines - Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.
The Golden Fleece Award should go to the Falmouth Select Board for moving the wind turbines.
For the past ten years, the town has hired the same Boston law firms and engineering companies to bring litigation and plans into court to keep the turbines operational.
Do taxpayers think a law firm or engineering company that has been paid by the Town of Falmouth for the past ten years would think it's a good idea to get rid of the turbines?
Find out what's happening in Falmouthfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The wind turbines are a Golden Goose.
These firms don't want to give up millions of dollars. Falmouth taxpayers are just Cows ready to be milked again and again.
Find out what's happening in Falmouthfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The costs for a utility-scale commercial wind turbine in 2005 ranged from about $1.3 million per megawatt of nameplate capacity installed.
The cost of one brand new Vestas V-82 type 1.65 megawatt wind turbine in 2005 was 1.3 M X 1.65 MW = 2.1 million. The town is asking more than the original purchase price of Falmouth Wind I just to start the move.
The Falmouth wind turbines are ten years old gear-driven wind turbines no longer produced due to bearing failures. The wind industry has switched to direct-drive turbines after 2012.
The condition of the blades is unknown. If one blade is replaced all three need replacement at around three million. The wind industry finds blades difficult to throw out and defines old used wind turbine blades as man-made asbestos at seven tons each.
Most of the commercial-scale turbines installed today are direct drive 2 megawatts or larger in size and cost roughly $3-$4 million per megawatt installed.
Total costs for removing a commercial-scale wind turbine will vary significantly depending on the number of turbines decommissioned, cost of financing, when the turbine purchase agreement was executed, construction contracts, the location of the project, and other factors.
A specialized crane to remove a commercial wind turbine is $150,000.00 for a minimum of three days and $ 50,000.00 for labor to take down a 400-foot turbine.
Falmouth is considering relocating the ten-year-old wind turbines to a new location asking Town Meeting for 2.5 million to start a brand new wind turbine project.
Cost components for a new location for wind turbines include things other than the turbines, such as wind resource assessment and site analysis expenses; construction expenses; permitting and interconnection studies; utility system upgrades, transformers, protection, and metering equipment; insurance; operations, warranty, maintenance, and repair; legal and consultation fees.
At some point, people have to understand that no one wanted these 110 decibel wind turbines in 2005. Why would you spend another 2.5 million beating a dead horse?
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The best bet is a controlled demolition of the turbines and stop the insanity.
Watch this video of controlled demolition.
Hunterston Wind Turbine and Communications Tower - Controlled Demolition, Inc
Oct 7, 2019
Controlled Demolition, Inc. (CDI) of Phoenix, Maryland, USA (acting as Explosives Subcontractor to Main Demolition Contractor, Keltbray Decommissioning of Glasgow, Scotland) performs the preparation for and explosives felling of one (1), 580’ tall, 1000 mt wind turbine and one (1), 328’ tall communications tower at the SSE National Off Shore Wind Turbine Test Facility in Hunterston, Scotland on Thursday, September 26, 2019.
