36 replies to this topic

[NYSKIDOOERINNEWHAMPSHIRE]

As written in the Colebrook NH News & Sentinel Newspaper...See original article at colbsent.com


Last Windmill Blades Being Installed; Production Set to Start in December

The Granite Reliable Power wind farm is nearing completion, with the last blades being installed on towers in Dixville. The project is expected to go on-line by mid to late December, according to Pip Decker of Brookfield Renewable Power.

Brookfield is now the majority owner of the project, after previous majority owner Noble Environmental Power sold it last year. During a tour last Tuesday, 168 workers were at the site, many of them moving equipment out as construction nears its end. At the peak of construction there were 300 workers, some working at night during the summer.

The park consists of 33 towers in four different clusters. The seven northernmost towers are situated along Dixville Peak in Dixville, and south of that in Millsfield there are eight on Mt. Kelsey, six on Owlhead, and the remaining 12 are along the Fishbrook Ridge.

The towers are 411 feet high and the blades are another 144 feet, putting the height of the entire structure--from the ground to the tip of the highest blade--at a little less than 550 feet. The turbines are Vestas V90-3.0 MW models.

Mr. Decker explained that clearing of the site began in early February and construction started in mid-May. Upgrades were required for 18 miles of road, and hundreds of new culverts and six new bridges were installed to accommodate the increased traffic. He said Dummer Pond Road did not need a lot of widening for the turbines to come through. Rip rap was also added along roads to improve drainage, and nets will collect other materials.

Once crews are out of the area, Dummer Pond Road and all roads that were previously open to the public will be open again. New roads leading up to the towers will be gated off.

The next step was to put the electrical infrastructure in place and prepare the laydown yard for the turbine arrivals. The turbine towers came from Colorado and were shipped by rail to Gilead, Maine. The plates, blades, and remaining tower components came from Europe, and were delivered to Portland. All the materials were trucked to the site via Dummer Pond Road. Mr. Decker said deliveries took six weeks to complete, and from the laydown yard the components are trucked up the mountains.

The laydown yard consists of 12 acres to accommodate the large-scale equipment needed in the operation, and Mr. Decker said most of that will be restored with plantings, while areas along the road will also be rehabilitated. There is also a maintenance building, from which a full-time crew of six to eight people will work. Next to the maintenance building is a substation that will collect the electricity generated by the turbines and turn it into 115 kV before it goes into the Coös Loop.

Mr. Decker said there are two main phases in constructing a tower. The first is to set the foundation and get the base of the tower put in and grounded. The base is 24 feet in diameter and is bolted into the ground. At the base of the towers is a stairway leading to a door, where all the wiring and other equipment is housed. From there the rest of the tower is put up, ending with the nacelle and blades.

"Once the base is complete you can put a tower up in a day or day and a half," Mr. Decker said. He said not a lot of equipment is used, mainly three different types of cranes: a small one used for the base, a heavier one for the higher part of the tower, including the nacelle, and a top-out one used for the blades. Cranes are assembled on site and are taken from tower to tower, and broken down when their work is finished.

There have been no major problems over the course of construction, according to Mr. Decker. He said that in this type of project companies go in knowing it will be a challenge, but said everything has gone smoothly. The Coös County Sheriff's Department has provided security, and contractor RMT and Brookfield have made safety a top priority he said,; as of last Tuesday they had gone 241 work days without any lost time. Employees are required to attend orientation training and wear equipment such as hard hats, safety glasses, steel-toed boots and high-visibility outer garments.

RMT and Brookfield have also had direct communication with all local responders, according to Mr. Decker. He said local fire and EMS personnel have driven through the areas for familiarization. RMT and Brookfield also worked with EMS on mapping new and existing roads.

Mr. Decker said Brookfield is hoping to have nearby snowmobile trails ready for the season, but said the main concern is that people are safe. Some have noticed that one turbine appears to be right next to the Balsams Wilderness Ski Area when viewed from Colebrook, but it actually sits a mile away and is on another mountain separated by a valley. He said he doesn't expect the turbine to create a lot of noise at the ski area.

(Issue of November 23, 2011)

[Oldtimer]

Cool!

Attached Thumbnails

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[jay]

Oldtimer, on 29 November 2011 - 10:09 AM, said:

Cool!

NOT COOL.....They ruined pristine forest to put these ugly ass things up. Not to mention the trail that was lost.

[Oldtimer]

Thought the trail was coming back as soon as they got things tied up.
As for pristine forest and whatnot, current at the flip of a switch comes at a price.
Personally, I would rather see the windmills than another coal fired plant. Or worse yet, a nuke. Or even worse yet, a northern NH Quimby lock-out.

[ICG]

looks real good to me... America is finally on its way to energy independence. Jimmy Carter was the last person in office to steer us away from imported oil / energy.

OPEC never was our friend ! We must find alternate sources of clean energy

[sno-dust]

jay, on 29 November 2011 - 04:21 PM, said:

NOT COOL.....They ruined pristine forest to put these ugly ass things up. Not to mention the trail that was lost.

Ugly,yes.Pristine forest NO.The area the project is in is far from pristine forest,it has been na working forestr for over 100 years.This involved building roads and associated bridges and culverts. throughout to support the harvesting of wood product.Without the roads snowmobiling would not be anything like it is today-logging is our friend.Windmills may also be our friend,it brings income to the landowners who without a return on their investment could sell/develop the area.A few windmills on private property (which will remain open for public use) is far better than subdividing these large tracts of land for development.Ask any southern trailmaster what effects development have had on their trail systems in the recent years,continuing development in southern nh is compromising the trail system.In my local area we realize that this continued development will eventually result in loss of whole trail systems.I did benefit fiancially from the RMT project,as did my oil man,mortgage holder,hotel and restaraunts ($3k in dinner reciepts alone) in Berlin/Gorham.I worked on both the collector substation at mile 6 and the PSNH Transmission yard in Dummer.

[Bilbo]

It sounds like they got a ton of work done in a short time period. Not the norm this day in age.

[Saluda]

Seems like they (wind farms) are starting to show up in areas with some of the best views. Betting in a few years that even people in support of this will be thinking twice.

[NHsledin]

jay, on 29 November 2011 - 04:21 PM, said:

NOT COOL.....They ruined pristine forest to put these ugly ass things up.

I agree.

All in the name of green energy to stop climate change. Sure, something needs to be done but I don't think windmills are the right answer. I wonder how many birds are now going to be killed up north.

[jay]

sno-dust, on 29 November 2011 - 09:12 PM, said:

Ugly,yes.Pristine forest NO.The area the project is in is far from pristine forest,it has been na working forestr for over 100 years.This involved building roads and associated bridges and culverts. throughout to support the harvesting of wood product.Without the roads snowmobiling would not be anything like it is today-logging is our friend.Windmills may also be our friend,it brings income to the landowners who without a return on their investment could sell/develop the area.A few windmills on private property (which will remain open for public use) is far better than subdividing these large tracts of land for development.Ask any southern trailmaster what effects development have had on their trail systems in the recent years,continuing development in southern nh is compromising the trail system.In my local area we realize that this continued development will eventually result in loss of whole trail systems.I did benefit fiancially from the RMT project,as did my oil man,mortgage holder,hotel and restaraunts ($3k in dinner reciepts alone) in Berlin/Gorham.I worked on both the collector substation at mile 6 and the PSNH Transmission yard in Dummer.

Guess your idea of pristine and mine are different.....I agree 100% on the the development part.......but start cutting trees down and it will not stop, it may take years for the "urban sprawl" to get there, but it will someday.

[skully]

Oldtimer said:

1322606609[/url]' post='74689']
Or worse yet, a nuke.

Hate to DISAGREE with you !
Atleast there is one thing I will say France is light years ahead of everyone else.
http://en.wikipedia....power_in_France
Rob .....

Edited by skully, 30 November 2011 - 07:30 PM.

[sno-dust]

jay, on 30 November 2011 - 07:25 PM, said:

Guess your idea of pristine and mine are different.....I agree 100% on the the development part.......but start cutting trees down and it will not stop, it may take years for the "urban sprawl" to get there, but it will someday.

I did say UGLY.,But then again so are cell / radio towers,fire towers etc.Do you really see any of that when traveling down a perfectly groomed trail at 40 mph.
Pristine Forest I think,should be unharvested tracts of land of which are non existent in New England..More resembling this.
Taken from the wilderness act of 1964
The Wilderness Act continues to be the guiding piece of legislation for all wilderness areas. The Act describes wilderness as follows:

"...lands designated for preservation and protection in their natural condition..." Section 2(a)

"...an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man..." Section 2©

"...an area of undeveloped Federal land retaining its primeval character and influence, without permanent improvement or human habitation..." Section 2©

"...generally appears to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature, with the imprint of man's work substantially unnoticeable..." Section 2©

"...has outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation..." Section 2©

[ICG]

Ugly? No, progressive progress for the next generations.


If only our farm had more elevation! I’d line the property with windmills just like a Texas oil field with oil dippers as far as the eye could see

[Bilbo]

Just stick a bunch of fake branches on the wind towers so they look like giant trees. I passed a cell tower down in NJ with that, I guess it works down there. Then they can hang them on the Northern Pass towers too .

[dunphy11]

jay, on 30 November 2011 - 07:25 PM, said:

Guess your idea of pristine and mine are different.....I agree 100% on the the development part.......but start cutting trees down and it will not stop, it may take years for the "urban sprawl" to get there, but it will someday.

NH has more trees and forested areas than we ever had when people had to self sustain their families through farming and livestock. Take a walk through NH woods and notice how many stone walls there are.They were built as land was worked and cleared which shows how much land was actually naked of forestation. The history of many towns will also show this. Just hope the windmills prove positive in the long range.

[748eric]

Call me crazy but I actually like the way they look. To each his own I guess.

[OldViperRider]

748eric, on 01 December 2011 - 01:37 PM, said:

Call me crazy but I actually like the way they look. To each his own I guess.

I like the way they look so much; I have one in my door-yard!

[dunphy11]

OldViperRider, on 01 December 2011 - 05:12 PM, said:

I like the way they look so much; I have one in my door-yard!

They are impressive, up close and from a distance. I took a ride over to the Lempster Wind Mill farm last year it was cool to say the least. Just standing under a windmill you hear and feel their huge amount of power amoung the surrounding silence.

[motie777]

PureYamaha-CG, on 29 November 2011 - 06:58 PM, said:

looks real good to me... America is finally on its way to energy independence. Jimmy Carter was the last person in office to steer us away from imported oil / energy.

OPEC never was our friend ! We must find alternate sources of clean energy

if these windmills were such a great idea private investers would be lined up for this project. Instead the gov. is spending well over 100 mil. on this feel good green project. money that they know will never be paid back. did this project create local jobs? barely. The energy produced will be going out of state. Nothing wrong with wanting to be energy independant, but these windmills are not going to do it.

[NHsledin]

motie777, on 04 December 2011 - 08:08 AM, said:

if these windmills were such a great idea private investers would be lined up for this project. Instead the gov. is spending well over 100 mil. on this feel good green project. money that they know will never be paid back. Nothing wrong with wanting to be energy independant, but these windmills are not going to do it.

And I agree.