Falmouth Wind Turbines Corrosion Risk No Strategy

Falmouth Massachusetts

August 13, 2020

Town Approved 2.5 Million For Wind Turbine Storage

The Town of Falmouth installed two commercial Vestas V-82 wind turbines in 2010 and 2012. The turbines were built off a 1990s NegMicon NM 82 wind turbine. The Falmouth wind turbines were held in storage in Texas and Canada from as early as 2004 as they were gear-driven wind turbines that could not be sold at auction in 2008. No one bid on the turbines as they also produced 110 decibels of noise each.

The Massachusetts courts shut down the nuisance turbines in June of 2017.

The former assistant town manager in 2013 told Town Meeting Members the turbines only had in a best-case scenario value of $300,000.00. The three hundred thousand figure was based on the outside engineering firm estimates.

In November of 2019, Falmouth Town Meeting approved 2.5 million to disassemble the antique turbines and put them in storage and or move them to a new location outside town.

The Falmouth Board of Selectmen's five-year strategic plan gives the Town Manager until the end of the fiscal year 2022 to make a decision. One long term Select Board Member wants to develop a wind turbine business plan prior to taking any more steps aka another study.

The corrosion rate of the cylindrical steel tower of a wind turbine is variable, based on access of both oxygen and humidity, influenced by the level of the water on the structure. Elevated salt concentration, electrolysis, mechanical load, biological stress, temperature variation, irregular inspection intervals, maintenance, and repair costs. Tens of thousands of aging wind blades are coming down from steel towers around the world and most have nowhere to go but landfills.

Falmouth’s two wind Vestas turbines will continue to draw upon town coffers for years to come as the town still owes the balance of a 5 million ARRA, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act loan and electric power is still going into the turbines to keep them operational.

That Falmouth Wind II ARRA loan includes the $4.865 million given to Falmouth by the Massachusetts Clean Water Trust of which must be paid back as the turbine is no longer energy efficient. The federal EPA waiver to use a foreign-made wind turbine included language that no domestic wind turbines were available but left out the fact General Electric a domestic wind turbine company refused due to residential setbacks and ice throw.

Selectmen and Town Manager last year addressed the financial circumstances stating up to nine companies are interested in the turbines and a Request for Proposal will be issued within the next 30 days?

The turbines were shut down in 2017 the business plan appears to let the turbines come down on their own.

Why would anyone spend 2.5 million on two wind turbines with a value of less than $300,000.00 (three hundred thousand) each?