Gordon Brown Admits Wind Power is a Failure
In last night’s (22nd April 2010) Prime Ministerial Debates, Gordon Brown admitted that even in Scotland Wind Power is a failure, and there are other more environmentally friendly sources.
Click to Play:Gordon Brown - Debate
VVASP gains ‘cross party’ support in opposing windfarm proposals for The Lenches in the Vale of Evesham
Jacqui Smith MP recently visited the Vale of Evesham to view the area around The Lenches where ScottishPower Renewables propose to build an industrial windfarm. The proposed Planning Application is imminent.
The Lenches is now part of the Redditch Parliamentary Constituency which is currently represented by Jacqui Smith MP so she came to see for herself the scale and detail of the proposal.
Rod Stroud Chairman of VVASP (Vale Villages against Scottish Power, the Action Group campaigning against the proposals) says "Jacqui Smith MP showed concern for the local residents predicament and we received the following response from her Secretary following the visit";
"Jacqui was impressed with the presentation made by Rod (Stroud) and Erica (Page). Should she become MP for the area she will be happy to take on the developers of the proposed windfarm and ensure the government guidelines and policies are tested and clear in relation to a development such as this.
Her main contention is the enormous size of the individual turbines, the proximity to housing and the ‘marginal’ size of the overall development.
Given its’ marginal scale Jacqui thinks that the developers might be unwilling to force through a development that causes them a lot of pain for only a little gain. She will be happy to build on that pain."
Karen Lumley, the prospective Conservative candidate for Redditch, has also visited the site several times and voiced support for the VVASP campaign.
Peter Luff MP has an active interest in the proposals since it was announced in November 2008 and was responsible for the 10 minute Bill presented to Parliament requesting a 2Km exclusion zone between large industrial wind turbines and resident homes.
This gives VVASP and residents in the local area a huge boost in getting ‘cross party’ support that the site is inappropriate for such large industrial turbines so close to peoples homes.
Rod Stroud – Chairman VVASP
ScottishPower Renewables Wind farm shut over safety fears after 150ft turbine blade falls off
Wind farm shut over safety fears after 150ft turbine blade falls off
Mar 23 2010 Exclusive by Ben Spencer @ – The Daily Record
Broken turbine at Whitelee Wind Farm
EUROPE’S largest wind farm ground to a halt after a 150ft blade snapped off one of the turbines.
All 140 of the giant machines were immediately shut down at the £300million development near Glasgow until they could be inspected.
Engineers at Whitelee wind farm, which is run by ScottishPower Renewables, were trying to work out why the blade came crashing down.
They are looking into whether lightning could have struck the turbine or if it was caused by a mechanical problem.
It sheared off and hit the ground in the early hours of Friday morning in blustery conditions.
Automatic systems alerted operators in the control room to the damage and they immediately closed down the unit.
All 420 blades in the wind farm were being examined following the accident.
Last night, more than 50 turbines were expected to have been inspected and safely returned to operation.
The process is expected to be completed by Friday.
Whitelee wind farm’s visitor centre, which is managed by Glasgow Science Centre and had been due to reopen after the winter break yesterday, stayed shut.
German company Siemens, who supplied the turbines, are also understood to be investigating.
The 360ft turbines are so massive that engineers have been able to climb inside them to try to detect the problem.
Over the weekend, the site at Eaglesham Moor, 13 miles from Glasgow city centre, was cordoned off to keep visitors away. Raymond Toms, 45, a teacher from East Kilbride, spotted the broken turbine as he cycled past on Sunday.
He said: "I was out for a bike ride and I saw one of the massive blades had broken clean off. It was quite unnerving really.
"You can walk right up to these things normally and touch them.
"The public have access to the network of pathways nearby.
"I have grave concerns over the safety of the public, who can walk right up to the turbines.
"It’s worrying that if one of these could fall off then perhaps another one could.
"It’s made me think about going too close, that’s for sure. It’s just lucky this took place at night, when nobody was around."
Keith Anderson, managing director of ScottishPower Renewables, said: "This type of incident is exceptionally rare and highly unusual.
"However, the safety of our people and the public is our first priority.
"While the investigation into the cause of the incident is ongoing, our engineers continue to conduct an internal and external examination of all turbine blades at the wind farm".
A spokesman for the firm added: "Investigations are ongoing, and a number of possibilities including mechanical failure and lightning strike are being considered.
"Operators in the 24-hour control room immediately closed the turbine down.
"This is a highly unusual situation. I’ve not heard of this kind of incident happening in 30 years."
GREEN ENERGY WINDWASH and BRIBERY
Last week, it was revealed that community groups in East Renfrewshire are to benefit from a fund set up from the development of Whitelee.
The fund will deliver about £140,000 a year for the next 25 years to the area’s council for local groups.
Borderer24 wrote:
The Scottish Power spokesman must have had his head in the sand if he is is really claiming that, "I’ve not heard of this kind of incident happening in 30 years."
Turbines shed blades and experience them delaminating and breaking up with monotonous regularity, all over the world.
In the UK there have been numerous examples. I have read of accidents at Crystal Rig (2005), Oldside (2006), Blyth Offshore, Conisholme (2009), Sheffield University (2009) and many, many more.
It has even happened twice at one windfarm in Cornwall, in 1993 and 2006. There have also been a good few turbine collapses and turbine fires. Examples of turbines being shut down with blade problems prior to them coming apart are even more common.
A Dutch company whose core business is blade repair admits that, "Rotor blade lightning damage is a common problem" (NGup Rotor Blades).
See the Caithness Windfarm Information Forum for a ‘Summary of Wind Turbine Accident data’ to 31 December 2009.Borderer24 wrote:
‘TURBINE BLADE BREAKS TWICE IN 15 MONTHS’
The Telegraph, 10 Oct 2009.
"A blade on a wind turbine in Sheffield has broken in strong winds for the second time in 15 months."Other instances show blades/parts of blades can travel hundreds of metres:
"Brieske [Brandenburg, Germany], 3 July 2009. Lightning strike caused the catastrophic break up of a 40m turbine blade. Large pieces of blade flew for about 150 meters, landing about 50 meters from federal highway 169."
"Sidinge, in Denmark, sent a blade flying more than 300ft before it hit the ground."
"A 19 metre piece of the wing was thrown 200 metres away." Witness to catastrophic break up of blade and collapse of turbine tower in Denmark (Live Leak video no. 1203701257).
Allegheny Ridge Wind Farm. Blade break up: " 140 feet long, about 14 feet wide and weighing about 7 tons, according to the company."
"It’s something the size of a yacht flying through the air," [...] One piece was thrown more than 500 feet before coming down through the trees."23/3/2010 4:48 PM GMT on dailyrecord.co.uk
Don’t take our word for it -Do Your Own Research …
We invite you to do your own research and draw your own conclusions as to why the ASA would make such a ruling.
Noise:
Dr Nina Pierpoint, Author of Wind Turbine Syndrome, visit her site WindTurbineSyndrome.com get an extract of her book click here Sample Pages and here for the Executive Summary, also check out all the peer reviews.
A paper by Dr Chris Hanning, Consultant, Sleep Disorders Clinic, Leicester General Hospital entitled “Sleep Disturbance and Wind Turbine Noise” click here to download.
Dr A Harry, on Wind Turbines: Noise and Health, click here.
If you are heavily into the science of acoustics, you might want to read the definitive NASA report from Hubbard and Sheppard 13th Feb 2009, (2oMb) click here to download.
And here’s what our own NHS has to say on the subject, click here
House Prices:
Details of the house price reduction after a court ruling, and council tax reduction click here to see the article.
Details of the High Court case for noise nuisance against the wind farm operator backed by their house insurer, click here to see the article.
Forever? It’s a matter of interpretation.
A recent windfarm planning application was turned down on appeal by the Inspector on the grounds “I have also borne in mind the fact that planning permission is sought for a period of 25 years. However, as such a time period is roughly a third of an average lifetime I have some difficulty in regarding it a “temporary” in any real sense.” – So what is the opposite of temporary? Permanent? Forever? Click here to download the document from the government’s website.
And for more evidence look at the Wind Industry’s own body, the BWEA, which is funded by and represents the interests of the Wind Power developers, and operates a large, well financed PR and lobbying campaign to ensures its views are represented in all government bodies and quangos, take a look at its database of exiting sites and planned developments – just note the number of second phases, repowering and extensions. Click Here for the Current Installations , click here for those with Planning Permission Consented and here for those Under Construction and here for those in Planning.
In summary that is 2759 turbines in current operation with a theoretical maximum capacity of 4,115 MW and another 6,963 turbines with a theoretical maximum capacity of 18,839 MW consented, under construction or in planning. That’s the equivalent of lining every single motorway covering the whole country with a turbine at every 350 meters. And based on Scottish Power’s figures you’d need to build 3 ADDITIONAL Drax powerstations to back them up for when the wind doesn’t blow!
Statement from VVASP following the recent ASA ruling
In October 2009, Vale Villages Against Scottish Power (VVASP) issued a Newsletter with a copy of a banner we had displayed at the drop-in sessions hosted by ScottishPower Renewables (SPR). It compared the height of a 125m Wind Turbine with local buildings with several boxes on the leaflet explaining our concerns. This prompted someone to complain to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).
It is not unusual for wind farm applications to attract the attention of the ASA. Indeed, SPR were the subject of a complaint to the ASA over the size of the turbines illustrated in their leaflet last year. SPR accepted the complaint and have agreed their leaflet will not appear again. This is all the more remarkable, given the wealth of resources available to SPR, whereas we are a small volunteer group working in our own time. Nevertheless, the ASA suggested that SPR consult with them before further leaflets are distributed.
The first complaint against VVASP concerned the use of the word “forever”.
VVASP said that the turbines would “…change the landscape forever”. The complainant said the turbines only had a life of 25 years. We argued that the driving force for the generation of electricity from wind turbines is to reduce carbon emissions. If we are serious about climate change we must stop burning fossil fuels FOREVER not just for 25 years. Wind farms that we have visited are being enlarged or re-powered with larger turbines, so we believe it is naive to think that wind farms are only here for 25 years. According to the ASA this use of “forever” is misleading. We do not share this view.
VVASP believes that, by any reasonable interpretation, the term “forever” is relevant in this context and the complaint trivial.
What is not trivial is the subject of the second complaint concerning the potential for large-scale industrial turbines to have an adverse effect on the health and sleep patterns of people living closeby.
We quoted the work of the American Dr. Nina Pierpoint whom we believe has undertaken extensive research in the field and published a book on the subject. (See www.windturbinesyndrome.com). We also cited a 2009 report from Dr. Chris Hanning, one of the UK’s leading authorities in Sleep Disorders Medicine and even a recent report commissioned by the American Wind Energy Association.
The ASA decided that none of this research was sufficiently robust to justify our claim, despite the fact that we had also quoted first hand experiences of people whose lives had been blighted by wind turbines located close to their homes. Indeed, some people have had to vacate their homes due to the noise/sleep loss caused by the wind turbines.
VVASP argued that, if experts in this field express valid concerns, these should be taken seriously and Government should adopt the precautionary principle and accept the expert’s advice to only site turbines more than 2Km from homes.
If Wychavon District Council approves SPR’s plans we believe we shall have the largest turbines built closer to homes than anywhere else in the UK.
Despite this, the ASA dismissed all the experts’ views and first hand evidence and upheld the complaint concluding our claim was misleading. Again, we strongly contest the ASA’s decision. We also believe we had taken all reasonable steps to ensure our leaflet was based on well-founded research from recognised experts and, further supported this with first hand evidence.
Finally we quoted a 2007 report commissioned by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors concerning house price devaluation. The ASA concluded that the verbatim quote used was not representative of the report as a whole. We believe that by any measure of perceived wisdom, given two very similar properties, one in open countryside and the other with a turbine the height of a forty-storey building nearby, the latter would have a lower value.
The ASA disagreed and said it was misleading.
VVASP has agreed to modify the wording on the banner to comply with the ASA ruling
As an organisation, VVASP take great care to ensure all our work is of the highest standard, especially when it involves communicating with the public.
VVASP is extremely disappointed with the ASA’s ruling and strongly disagrees with its decisions, believing we took all reasonable precautions to justify our claims. We will continue to fight the proposed Lenchwick Windfarm and keep residents informed of any relevant information.
Disclaimer
Whilst we have taken every care to ensure the above accurately reflects the ASA’s decision, the opinions expressed are those of VVASP and we cannot accept any responsibility for any errors, misunderstandings or omissions.
Contact VVASP info@VVASP.org.uk
