Falmouth Offshore Land Cable Saves Contractor 100s of Millions

On October 26, 2020, Ocean wind turbine contractors will ask permission from the Falmouth Select Board to start testing around Falmouth Heights for an 800 to 1600 megawatt ocean wind turbine export high voltage buried cable line to come onshore through Falmouth to a proposed electric substation on Blacksmith Shop road and then in the air to the electric grid in Bourne.

On October 5, 2020, in a Falmouth Select Board meeting ocean contractors were not prepared to talk about EMF, electric, and magnetic forces from the electric cable.

Why the route through Falmouth appears to save ocean contractors hundreds of millions of dollars rather than an ocean route to industrial locations in New Bedford or Fall River.

The Falmouth taxpayer should move forward with caution as Block Island, Rhode Island the first ocean wind farm in the United States in 2016 is still having problems with the onshore landing of its cable and ratepayers are being stuck with the bill.

The Block Island wind farm cost over 330 million to build. The project was five wind turbines at 6 million each and 100 miles of ocean electric cables at 300 million. The cables not installed correctly are estimated to cost Rhode Island electric customers over 30 million to repair despite the project being sold later for 510 million. The cable is still not repaired.

XLPE Cable is the most common type of cable used for underground transmission lines being installed at transmission-level voltages. XLPE cable systems have become the preferred underground cable system for underground cable installations in the United States.

The cost of this buried land cable, construction, and duct system is around 10 million per mile about ten times the costs of overhead lines.

Land underground cables cost 10 million per mile of total installation cost.

A single submarine cable can cost up to 46 million per 5000 feet total installation. One mile equals 5280 feet.

The costs of an installed submarine cable are 5 times the costs of a land-based buried electric cable.

Submarine cable today costs up to 46 million per mile. Example: (2016 Block Island approximate 30 t0 32 million per mile) Longest run to Montauk, New York.

The EMF generated by three conducting sub-cables may pass the sheath and even the armor.

It is well-known that emissions from electricity cables onshore buried and overhead may have implications for human health.

The costs of the ocean wind turbine electric cables exceed the costs of the wind turbines themselves.

The Town of Falmouth is no stranger to poorly placed wind turbine projects. The town spent seven years in court with eleven lawsuits and multiple appeals to those lawsuits.

Falmouth owns two 1.65 megawatt wind turbines shut down by the courts forever in 2015 and 2017.

It is estimated the town has lost 20 million overall and still owes millions on an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act loan and town meeting approved 2.5 million to remove the antiquated turbines.

It's time taxpayers ask the old question: “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”

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EMF : Numerous epidemiologic studies have reported associations between measures of power-line electric or magnetic fields (EMFs) and childhood leukemia.

Health Risks from Power Lines