There was a good turn out for the Shorwell Against Turbines meeting on Saturday at the village hall.
Various speakers stood up and delivered their facts to the audience of over 50 people, as to why the development didn’t make sense and should be resisted.
It’s not realistic to reiterate all items discussed, but several items were mentioned that we hadn’t heard previously, which appear pertinent, so they’re detailed below.
To transfer the energy that would be generated by the wind turbine to The Grid, so it can be sold to the electricity company and used, a conduit 5.5-6 miles long would need to be laid all the way from the site to Forest Road.
The presenters claimed that this could not only cause considerable disruption, but they questioned the amount of energy – and therefore CO2 emissions – that would need to be used to create it.
The turbine blades of the size proposed will apparently need at least a force three wind to even make the blades turn. Without that the wind turbine will not be producing energy. A member of the public who has a turbine on their yacht, pointed out that monitoring equipment had not picked up a force three wind since before Christmas.
With the turbines not turning all of the time, other forms of electricity will also be needed. In short wind turbines cannot ever be the whole solution to electricity generation.
If The Grid doesn’t need the power from the turbine, it is refused and the energy is wasted.
Several people claimed that equity investment funds, that previously invested in wind energy products are no longer backing them, pointing to them not being financially sound.
Electricity generated by the turbines won’t be used on the Island, but will be exported off-Island.
Those in the audience were encouraged to add their contact details to a list so they can stay informed of any developments.
Disclosure: It appears apparent that other sources of non-polluting energy are essential. With so much information available from supporters and objectors of Wind turbines, we really have no idea if they are a good thing or not. We at VentnorBlog hope to be able to report on information on both sides, helping you – and us – to become better informed about this important subject.
Image: .Martin.
