Falmouth Wind Turbines 6 Million Debt Before Rebirth

In November 2019 Falmouth Town Meeting approved 2.5 million and millions more down the road to take down and relocate the two town-owned wind turbines a task even the federal government gave up on in the 1980s.

As of June through November of 2017 various Massachusetts courts agreed with the zoning board the turbines are a nuisance and shut them down forever.

It took from 2002 to 2010 to install the first wind turbine without the appropriate permits and abutter notifications. A second turbine was installed in 2012 without a noise study of both turbines operating at the same time. To move the turbines could take at least another eight years with the correct permits.

Up to 200 homeowners living nearby, the town-owned “Wind 1” and “Wind 2″ turbines have argued in as many as eleven litigation cases that moving the turbines could alleviate problems. The neighbors complained of headaches, vertigo, and a whole host of other health symptoms.

The Massachusetts residents in as many as twenty-one communities who complain of two types of noise generally live within 3000 feet of the turbines similar to residents of Boone, North Carolina in the 1980s.

The U.S. Department of Energy today is aware of the types of noise created by the Boone, North Carolina wind turbine in the 1980s. The Federal Wind Energy Program was part of NASA's Mod-1 series turbines, built during the 1970s.

Complaints from the federally funded wind turbines in the 1980s included complaints from nearby residents about the wooshing and thumping sounds it made. The same complaints Falmouth residents made starting in 2010 today known as regulatory noise measured in decibels and low-frequency infrasound.

In January of 1981, the Boone turbine gearbox failed. Repairs were beyond NASA’s budget and federal dollars for wind energy research drying up due to failures. The federal government auctioned the noisy wind turbine in 1983. It was purchased by a private company that used the generator for a hydroelectric power plant.

#(FYI the private-owned wind turbine in Falmouth had its gears replaced recently the town has not.)

The federal government gave up on moving or repairing noisy wind turbines in the 1980s. The Town of Falmouth in 2020 is prepared to take on the cost involved and the regulatory hurdles the town would need to clear moving the turbines and the extensive time to do it.

Town Meeting Members were asked to take on a task the federal government gave up on 40 years ago and they approved it !

An alternate site for one or both of the turbines could be about 15,000 feet northeast of the current turbines, which is less than 2500 feet from housing on the 22,000-acre Joint Base Cape Cod.

Falmouth officials are looking for the perfect alternate spot, the moving process will start from scratch taking up to eight years and cost millions.

The new location would need a two-year time frame approval from boards concerned with wildlife, natural heritage, and historic value including local power grid approval.

The town would also likely need to reapply with Grid operators to get permission to hook up to the local power grid.

It was stated in the past that when the turbines were fully operational they provided around one million a year now that they are shut off bills could rise as high as $150,000.00 a year.

In the past the Falmouth Finance Committee talked of a fiscal cliff, one in Falmouth that will come on July 1, 2014. "That is when Falmouth will be unable to sustain any curtailment of the town-owned wind turbines at the Wastewater Treatment Facility. "So how did the town avoid the fiscal cliff in 2017 when the courts shut down the turbines?

No one knows what would happen to nearly $5 million received in an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act federal loan for turbine #2. The loan requires the turbine to remain energy efficient or pay back the loan plus 2 percent.

.The economical Life of a gear-driven wind turbine is around 15 years with the maximum life span is up to 25 years if you want to pay the freight.

By the time these turbines designed in the 1990s are taken down, moved and reinstalled they will have reached their lifespan. All the money and resources 2.5 million will be for nothing and by that time the remaining 3.5 million on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act loan will be paid back

A net loss of 2.5 million by Town Meeting and the 3.5 million ARRA loan for a 6 million dollar loss.

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Older Wind Turbine Gear Box Similar To Falmouth Wind Turbines : Source Romax Insight

https://romaxtech.com/events-and-resources/news/news-2015/romax-insight-supports-eurus-energy-america-with-the-biggest-gearbox-re-engineering-and-refurbishment-project/