Feasibility Opinion of Re-Erecting A Falmouth Wind Turbine

Falmouth owns two Vestas 1.65 megawatt V-82 wind turbines with 80-meter tall towers (400 Feet), currently installed at the Town’s wastewater treatment facility.

Located at 165 Blacksmith Shop Road in Falmouth, Massachusetts.

The two wind turbines, installed in 2010 and 2012, were determined not to be suitable in their present locations by court order June 2017, and, therefore, have ceased operating.

These type gear driven wind turbines were designed in the 1990s. Approximately 14,000 permanently inactive or older gear driven wind turbines out there somewhere designed in the 1990s are being replaced with direct drive turbines.

The distance to meet 40 dBA for Wind II, a Vestas V82 with a sound power level of 110 decibels, is approximately 891 meters or 2923 feet.

The Board of Selectmen has directed the Town Manager to seek options to relocate and operate the turbines at an alternative location(s) outside the Town of Falmouth.

The Town of Falmouth Board of Selectmen, acting through the office of the Town Manager has been seeking letters of interest for a wind turbine project host agreement since June of 2019.

It has been reported the Town Falmouth will be responsible for the relocation and operation of the turbines and expects to receive a portion of the wind turbine project’s economic benefits under a mutually beneficial host agreement.

The Board of Selectmen according to sources will seek to pursue other alternatives, in a descending priority order, which may include the following:

(1) sale of wind turbine(s);

(2) enter into an agreement which removes the blades and nacelle and repurposes the tower(s) for use as communications towers, and lastly;

(3) dismantle the turbine(s) and remove it for private use.

Falmouth Town Meeting November 2019 approved Article14: To appropriate $2,314,800.00 to initiate the process of disposition of the wind turbines which includes dismantling, relocation, engineering, permitting and other related costs.

Falmouth's town-owned Vestas V-82 turbines Wind 1 and Wind 2, which went online in 2010 and 2012 were the subjects of eleven lawsuits and multiple appeals by abutters during their operation.

Neighbors (Up to 200) complained about a long list of turbine-related health effects which included hearing loss, nausea, and sleep disorders to dizziness, blood pressure, tinnitus, and describe the noise 24/7 as torture.

Each turbine according to Vestas warnings generates 110 decibels of noise. City of Milwaukee noise study: Two wind turbines each generating 110 dB of noise would produce a combined noise of 113 dB. However, doubling the sound pressure will increase the sound level by 6 dB.

What Wind Turbines Sound Like