Falmouth Wind Turbine Project Decommissioning 3 Years Later

Cost of Decommissioning Massachusetts Wind Turbines is Huge at 2.5 Million

Since June of 2017 Falmouth officials have been working hard trying to move two town-owned wind turbines beyond Falmouth’s borders after the Massachusetts courts shut down both nuisance turbines. But how hard have they really been working?

The town has for three years has been seeking interest from any public and private property owner to host one or two of the megawatt pair of foreign-made turbines.

The town supposedly would continue to own the older gear-driven turbines which each generates 110 decibels of noise each requiring a setback of near 3000 feet from residential home properties. The pair together generate 113 decibels of noise. The CEO of the wind company states there is nothing they can do about the low-frequency noise aka infra-sound.

The town contends it can share the energy generated and possibly related energy credits for producing green energy as part of the deal. The town still owes 3.5 million on a 5 million American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 loan brokered by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.

The Town of Falmouth took 1 million in advanced renewable energy credits to take the first wind turbine. Who ever knew renewable energy credits could be used like Poker Chips in a card game.

The turbines, Wind 1 and Wind 2, went online in 2010 and 2012, respectively, were the subject of eleven lawsuits by up to 200 residents. Neighbors complained about two types of noise and shadow flicker turbine-related health effects and described the noise as torture.

In 2017, Barnstable Superior Court Judge Cornelius Moriarty agreed that the two 1.65-megawatt turbines posed a nuisance and ordered that they never operate again at their current location on the town’s wastewater treatment facility site on Blacksmith Shop Road.

The turbines lack permits being shut down in 2015 and 2017.

Ultimately if no one hosts the turbines, the town will look at other alternatives, ranging from a sale or repurposing the base as a cell tower.

The life span of a wind turbine designed in the late 1990s is around 20 years. In general, after 10 years of life, all the blades need to be replaced as well as gearboxes.

Estimates put the tear-down cost of a single older gearbox wind turbine similar to the Falmouth turbines at around $200,000.00

At the request of the Falmouth Select Board at Falmouth Town Meeting in November of 2019 monies amounting to $2,314,800.00 (2 1/2 Million) was approved for the wind turbines.

The 2.5 million is to "initiate" the process of disposition of the Wind Turbines which includes dismantling, relocation, engineering, permitting, and other unknown related litigation costs.

One thing for sure the longer this takes the more it costs and more money will be needed down the road.

The Falmouth wind turbines remain standing as a laugh-out-loud hilarious claim that wind energy is “green” or “environmentally friendly.”

Wind Turbine Removal Source : Hunterston Wind Turbine and Communications Tower - Controlled Demolition, Inc.