We know that there’s disagreement on the Island about if Wind turbines should be placed here.
We approached this interview with Steve Allen from Cornwall Light and Power (CL&P) from the basis of really not knowing whether placing Wind turbines on the Isle of Wight was a good or a bad thing.
At an initial glance — importantly setting aside the impact that they might have on the landscape where they are installed — it would appear that wind turbines would be good. They provide ‘free energy,’ right?
Looking slightly deeper raises a number of questions including quite how free the energy produced is and what the environmental costs of producing the equipment actually is.
We hoped that by asking questions we, and you as readers/listeners, would get closer to understanding the advantages and disadvantages.
The background
CL&P already have planning permission to build wind turbines on Cheverton Down.
It was originally granted in 1995 and was followed in 2001 with the granting of another application to extend the blade length.
As the foundations have already been dug, in the eyes of planning, the development has started, so the planning permission can’t expire.
CL&P have now applied to place larger turbines on this site and changing the layout of the turbines.
So the discussion isn’t around _if_ wind turbines can be built at Cheverton Down, just down to the size of the turbines that will be used.
What we heard
This is the first portion, as the interview turned out to be quite long.
In it we heard that the “The UK is one of the windiest countries in Europe. We have 40% of Europe’s wind.”
That Cheverton Down has an average wind speed of 8.2m/s, according to the government estimates of NOABL (Numerical Objective Analysis of Boundary Layer – eh?!?!) and that there are other potential site on the Island, but Cheverton Down has the advantages of being one of the most scarcely populated point of the Island.
Currently the closest wind turbines to the Isle of Wight are located in either Reading or Somerset. Those do not use Vestas blades. The nearest using Vesta blades are in Peterborough.
We’ll be bringing out the next section of this interview shortly.
(For balance, we’ve tried really hard to get ThWART’s view on this, but have been let down.) [audio:http://otw-audio.s3.amazonaws.com/Cheverton-Down-Cornwall-Light-and-Power -part-one.mp3]
More VentnorBlog articles of Cheverton Down.
image: mcdlttx
Wind turbine at the Museum of Wind Power in Lubbock, TX.
