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pepsi · Joined: 05 Mar 2007 Posts: 161

Well, I attended the meeting and listened to the NPower side and the opposition side.

The person that impressed me most was Jane Davis, an ordinary lady who is married to a farmer and who has been forced to move out of her home of many years due to the noise from the Wind Turbines 1 kilometer from her home.

At no time did she blame the energy company who built the turbine development but she put her case clearly, calmly and in an unbiased manner.

The result of her comments were clear, only approx 15% of Wind Farms produce such intense and distracting noise that they affect the people who live nearby BUT until the Turbines are up and running, you do not know if your Wind Farm will be one of that percentage.

The DTI, DEFRA and independant Acoustic Experts all agree that the noise at and in her home is extensive and intensive but unfortunately they do not know why some developments are affected like this or how to overcome the problem, sadly she and her husband cannot now sell their home and move away so they work their farm during the day and then sleep in another house at night well away from the Wind Farm.

The Earls Hall Wind Farm development has the potential to affect at least 3,000 residents if it turns out to be a rogue noise farm but of course, once it is built, it will not be taken down again and the people in the vicinity would have to live with the noise permanently.

NPower, spent their time trying to hide the facts by using the "we predict" words but refused to give any guarantee that noise from the Earls Hall site would be well within the WHO acceptable range. They also would not give figures on how much subsidy they receive from the government for each turbine or how much cheaper it is for them to build on land rather than at sea, interestingly they also advised that they had been invited to Clacton to present plans for a Wind Farm - wonder who it could have been who invited them.....

There has been a lot of talk about nimbyism and our need for renewable energy and I would say that no -one is arguing against the renewable energy need BUT you cannot simply play with the quality of life of 3,000+ residents for the sake of profit.

This is about people and how they could be affected, this is also about profit, large profit for an energy company [and I also believe others in the area].

I came away from the meeting feeling sickened that the quality of lives of so many meant so little to NPower and I will certainly fight this proposal and urge everyone to write to TDC Planning Dept. to object to this proposal - if you need info on how to do this and the relevant Application No then pls let me know.

A final thought of course is that Clacton Airstrip will probably be a casuality if this proposal goes ahead, a nice new area will become available to build yet more houses on and I think we can kiss goodbye to Clacton Air Show as well, yet more tourism lost.

amenity · Joined: 22 Nov 2006 Posts: 775 Location: Dovercourt

Pepsi,
Experts I have listened too all want to give the impression they know and they always have, once the earth was flat after all.

The other thing they claim is they are using state of the art technology, so I think it is fair to ask, what stage of development have you reached?

Certainly people only count when they are part of a revenue stream.

pepsi · Joined: 05 Mar 2007 Posts: 161

Hmm Amenity, I did ask them how much they invested each year in R & D for other alternative energy sources apart from Wind and also asked them how much they got in government subsidies for each Wind Turbine.

The answers were that they had sponsered an alternative energy R & D project into wave power to the tune of 190,000 but they did not want to say how much they received in subsidies, luckily someone else could supply that info which turns out to be approx 85,000 per turbine per year so they spend 190,000 and keep the remaining quarter mill, not a bad deal just from Clacton.

What was really sad is that we seem to have become a nation of accepters. Lots of people believed that the deal is already done with TDC and they have no choice, where has our backbone gone ?

In my youth, demonstrating against unfairness or unjustness was common place, now everyone seems to just be prepared to sit back and say "there is nothing we can do", maybe I am niave but I do still believe in people power, everyone just has to wake up and remember that they can change things if they are prepared to try !.

ivan burit · Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 8:03 pm Post subject:

GUNFLEET SANDS PUBLIC EXHIBITIONS......................
Dong energy are holding a series of public meetings to present plans for a 22 turbine extension to the Gunfleet Sands 1 Wind Farm..

SUN 24th JUNE Essex Hall Clacton Town Hall...

MON 25th JUNE Frinton Community Centre, The Triangle..

WED 27th JUNE JAYWICK Methodist Church Hall, Crossways....

ALL DATES OF THE EXHIBITIONS will be held between 12noon and 5pm.......

A team of experts and senior projects managers willbe available to explain details of the project and to answer any of your questions....
_________________
In truth we seek,In truth we learn,In Tendering,We get neither..

ivan burit · Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 6:02 pm Post subject:

19.04.07
DONG Energy and Siemens Wind Power have signed a contract for the delivery of 30 wind turbines for Gunfleet Sands in England.

The 30 wind turbines, which will be erected seven kilometers from England’s east coast at the mouth of the Thames, are Siemens 3.6MW wind turbines. With these new 30 wind turbines, the total capacity of the offshore wind farm will be 108MW. Construction is expected to start at the beginning of 2009 and the farm to be fully operational by the end of 2009.

Per Holmgård, Senior Vice President in DONG Energy Renewables, says about the contract:

“With the signing of the final contract, we have reached a significant milestone. This really gets the project going”.

Gunfleet Sands is DONG Energy’s third English offshore project after Barrow, which is already in operation, and Burbo Banks which is expected to be completed during 2007.

The investment costs for constructing the offshore wind farm, including the 30 Siemens wind turbines, are approx GBP 200 million.

For further information, please contact:
Media Relations
Louise Münter
+45 4480

BUT thats not the end of the story....
Read about London Array...
Thanet Project..........
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Offshore wind farms get go-ahead

The combined cost of building the two wind farms will be about £2bn
The green light has been given for two offshore wind farms in the Thames Estuary, one of which will be the world's biggest when it is completed.
The government said the schemes would produce enough renewable electricity to power about one million households.

The larger London Array project covers 90 sq miles (232 sq km) between Margate in Kent and Clacton, Essex.

The second wind farm, called the Thanet scheme, will cover 13.5 sq miles (35 sq km) off the north Kent coast.

The £1.5bn London Array scheme will have 341 turbines rising from the sea about 12 miles (20km) off the Kent and Essex coasts, as well as five offshore substations and four meteorological masts.

The consortium behind it is made up of Shell WindEnergy Ltd, E.ON UK Renewables and Core Ltd.

Climate change

The smaller £450m Thanet project will be located seven miles (11km) out from North Foreland, Kent, and will have 100 turbines.

HAVE YOUR SAY

We should be building more windfarms. We need to reduce our dependency on imported fossil fuels

Ernst Schrodinger, Hampshire

Send us your comments
Developed by Warwick Energy, it could be supplying electricity to about 240,000 homes by 2008.

The government said both schemes would make "a significant contribution to the aim of a five-fold increase in the UK's renewable energy resource by 2020".

Friends of the Earth said about 1% of electricity used in the UK would come from the London Array turbines.

Spokesman Martin Williams said: "It really is a big wind farm, but when you look at the scale of the challenge of climate change, we're going to need to do an awful lot more than just this one offshore wind farm."

And the RSPB backed the London Array scheme after plans were amended to prevent harm to red-throated divers - a bird rarely seen in UK waters.

The charity said 7,000 of the birds were found off north east Kent between 2002 and 2005, a larger population than thought, and so developers reduced the number of first phase turbines.

Dr Mark Avery, conservation director at the RSPB, said: "We are very pleased that this wind farm is to be built. Renewable energy generation is crucial to tackling climate change."

New jobs

London Array Ltd also wants to build an onshore electricity substation at Cleve Hill, Graveney, but planning permission was refused by Swale Borough Council.

The consortium is appealing, saying it has changed its plans following residents' concerns over construction traffic, and a planning inspector is due to make a ruling in early March.

The Thanet scheme will provide major economic benefits for the town of Ramsgate.

Thanet District Council said 800 new jobs were expected during the three-year construction period, with another 100 when Ramsgate becomes the maintenance base for the wind farm.

SO, with the existing 30 just of our sister site in Kent, plus all the new sites if it goes ahead.........
Its about 500 out there in our seas............

It will look like an industrial estate on water.........
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
_________________
In truth we seek,In truth we learn,In Tendering,We get neither..

amenity · Joined: 22 Nov 2006 Posts: 775 Location: Dovercourt

Seems like the Danes have invested in floating wind turbines. And this guy has reduced friction for shipping.

An invention designed to leave huge container ships and tankers floating on air is poised to cut fuel consumption and carbon emissions at sea by 15 per cent.

Shipping is responsible for about 500 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year — a total that is growing rapidly — and some put the figure as high as 800 million tonnes.

Pumping a carpet of air almost 1m thick under the bulk of a vessel’s hull will cut the drag, or friction, from contact with the sea.

The Air Cavity System has been developed by Jørn Winkler, a helicopter pilot with a passion for boats, who dreamt up the idea while reading about hovercraft.

He realised that rather than using pumped air to lift vessels off the surface of the water, it would be easier simply to insert a layer of air between the sea and a ship….

ivan burit · Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2007 8:44 pm Post subject:

Amenity, that idea sounds brillient, when you consider that racing boat hulls are "stepped" to get lift so that only a small portion remains in contact with the water..
Even the shape could be made to enhance air to flow under the water line on large vessels.

Water is a strange substance...in engineering, you can now programme c n c machine tools to cut shapes in ferous and non-ferous metals very accuratley and with repetition by using extreem high pressure water cutting jets........

To prove a point to an extent, go easy with a home powered jet wash on brick work and concrete patios....not steel, but it cuts.........
_________________
In truth we seek,In truth we learn,In Tendering,We get neither..

amenity · Joined: 22 Nov 2006 Posts: 775 Location: Dovercourt

Sorry Ivan the above should read Norwegians not Danes.

Erlangen, Germany [RenewableEnergyAccess.com]

Hydro and Siemens Power Generation have entered into an agreement to cooperate on technology to develop floating wind turbines based on Hydro's Hywind concept. Siemens will deliver the first wind turbine for the demonstration unit, which will be positioned off the coast of Norway.

"This new technology partnership will give us a leap forward in installing the world's first floating wind turbine at sea."

-- Alexandra Bech Gjorv, head of Hydro's New Energy area

Locating wind turbines offshore has obvious advantages, such as reduced visual impact and increased power production due to strong and stable wind conditions.

Floating offshore turbines could be installed at sites with greater water depths. Hydro currently has a license to place a demonstration turbine offshore near Karmoy, an island in the southwest of Norway. The company is also considering the possibility of locating the wind turbine near an oil installation with the aim of supplying it with renewable energy.

"Siemens Power Generation is already a leading supplier of offshore wind turbines on fixed foundations," said Alexandra Bech Gjorv, head of Hydro's New Energy area. "This new technology partnership will give us a leap forward in installing the world's first floating wind turbine at sea."

Hydro is part owner of the wave power company Ocean Power Delivery which is to construct the world's first commercial wave power station off the coast of Portugal.

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