By Harvey Jones

Ashhurst, Manawatu, New Zealand

Email: H.Jones@inspire.net.nz

22 May 2006

I live at Ashhurst in the Manawatu, where we are surrounded by the first large wind farms

established in New Zealand. TrustPower, operates the existing Tararua Wind Farm of over

100 of 650kW turbines. This will shortly be added to with 46 3 MW turbines of 90 metre

diameter. Meridian Energy operate the Te Apiti wind farm above Ashhurst on the Ruahine

Ranges which consists of 55 of 1.6 MW turbines of 70 metre diameter. In addition consent

has been granted for another 100 two bladed New Zealand sourced windmills at Te Rere Hau

next along the Tararua Ranges from the existing Tararua wind farm. The Palmerston North

City Council are working with Mighty River Power for another wind farm proposal on

reserve water catchment land at Turitea. Evergreen have just recently announced a project

for yet another wind farm above Linton and Tokomaru.

A group called Aokautere Guardians was formed in a campaign to fight the establishment of

the Te Rere Hau wind farm. After a little success in that battle, attention shifted to Tararua

III proposed by TrustPower. These are 90 metre turbines sitting on 65 m towers. Aokautere

Guardians, together with others, fought a great campaign and managed to convince the

Commissioners to remove some turbines which would be intrusive and impose various noise

restrictions. By agreement, prior to Environment Court hearings, additional conditions and

extensions were made to the original consent decision. Since that time, the experience gained

of the consent processes and arguments used in hearings to grant consents have been shared

with others in Auckland, Wellington and Hawke’s Bay.

There are a number of identified issues with wind farms and their operation. I have listed

some of the common ones below with a brief description of the identified problems.

Windmills generally need to be situated on a ridgeline to be productive. The best wind

generating sites also tend to be the mountain ridges where many residents will be able to see

them. From a distance they are usually rated as a positive aspect from their ‘green’ power

generating capacity and gentle movement. In the closer vicinity of 3 kms, they dominate the

landscape and there is little escape from the constant movement of the blades on the

mountain tops above and around you. Local residents of these areas are used to living in a

remote natural environment and would be most affected by this type of change in their living

environment.

Generally the local district plans identify regions of interest or significance. Skylines are

often in so-called protected status, but there has been little effort to date by these district

councils to make submissions opposing consent in any meaningful way. ‘National good’ is

often raised as the rationale for little opposition.

The blades can create flicker in two ways. Sunlight reflecting off the blades will occur at

certain angles of the sun and windmill. This can create a strobe effect in affected areas which

can be some distance away. With the sun behind them, the turning blades can cast moving

shadows across nearby houses and landscape. Although generally affecting residences

nearby, the strobe effect can be difficult to block out.

Noise occurs in two stages. The first is during the building and erection stage. There is a

great deal of earthmoving and heavy machinery required for access roads to each turbine site.

In addition there are significant foundation concreting required and then the tower and

turbine erection. This would normally only seriously affect neighbouring properties, but

truck movements on local roads will add additional noise to that normally encountered.

Restrictions of operating times may need to be set into the consent decision limiting night

work which could disturb neighbours.

Once the wind farm is operative, there may be noise associated with the operation of the

turbines. Rumbling sounds similar to a train can be observed up to 5 kms away with suitable

wind conditions. Ashhurst is situated about 2½ to 3 kms from the nearest turbines. During

easterly winds, some residents are seriously affected by the noise which ranges from the train

rumbling sounds all night long, the sound of jet planes flying overhead or thumping sounds

overlaid on the rumble. The gentle swishing sound which may be heard immediately under a

windmill is not heard further away. Instead the turbine sounds begin to merge together and

sometimes reinforce each other. The sound is generally worse at night, when the air is still,

colder and more dense, seemingly transmitting the noise easier. Some of the low frequency

noise tends to be transmitted through the ground and may be worse at various distances away

from the source. Orientation, dimensions and structure of the dwelling alters the extent to

which this noise can be heard. Sleep disturbance, irritability, tiredness and various medical

conditions are associated with this noise by those in close proximity. Pierpont (2006)

describes many of the typical problems encountered in the United States to date. Residents

closer than 1 km would be expected to have significant noise problems. Double glazed

windows and so on may help, but the vibration and other low frequency effects are likely to

manifest themselves inside a nearby dwelling.

Noise restrictions need to be set into the consent process to protect local residents from

problematic noise. Typical ambient noise will need to be measured before project

construction begins. If possible, noise should be limited to agreed limits and if outside that

level, turbines either automatically de-rated or shutdown. Typically complaints would be

handled by the local governing body, but residents may be able have agreement to raise the

problem directly with the operator. Low frequency and particular tonal noise has been

identified and may be problematic at levels lower than prescribed noise limits.

Most of the problems of traffic will occur during the building phase. Dozens of truck

movements will be needed to supply heavy machinery, road metal, concrete and building

materials. The blades and towers are of extreme length up to 45 m and take some time to

navigate the roads. Traffic delays would be expected at some times and should be tailored to

local traffic requirements. Damage to the roads can be expected and should be remedied by

the operator. Dust and noise from the road traffic may also be a problem. Local roads are

sometime improved by the operator by removing difficult curves, road widening and

improving the road surface to enable heavy truck movements to use the roads without

disruption.

During the operation phase when turbines are generating, there may be some sightseer traffic

along with support technicians and security staff.

There have been some concerns that the windmills prove a distraction to motorists who may

be sightseeing rather than paying attention to their driving. The Manawatu Gorge and the

appearance of windmills does not appear to have created more traffic incidents. It is more

likely that the introduction of no-passing lines in the Gorge has significantly contributed to

this.

Due to the earth excavation and road works there will be a range of erosion problems if the

area experiences serious rainfall. Dust from exposed cuttings may also be problematic. This

may result in a problem down hill with landslips or streams carrying additional silt and its

resulting flooding consequences.

These problems will also affect water ways and their fisheries.

The consent conditions will generally require that any areas of significant flora and fauna are

protected in some way. Bird strike by the blades and other disruptions to bird life need to be

identified and reported upon during operation.

The most prominent incident in New Zealand regarding a wind turbine would have to be the

collapse of the Windflow turbine at Gebby’s Pass, Christchurch. A sudden wind change is

attributed to causing the complete nacelle, gearbox and blades to break from its mountings

and fall to the ground in 2005. Other incidents elsewhere in the world have reported other

failures of nacelle weighing 60 tons falling from towers or blades shearing off and flying ½

km.

The gearboxes in modern turbines are very large units capable of converting the slow turning

revolution of the blades to a speed suitable for the generating of power. Many of these

require 200 litres or more of oil, which could create a spill affecting farmers (particular

organic) downstream or be a fire risk.

The greater prevalence and generating capacity of windmills can contribute to instability in

the electricity supply. The combined effect of the Tararua and Te Apiti wind farms is already

significant with respect to generating capacity in the region. Electricity supply requires that

the supply and demand is always balanced and that voltage and frequency levels stay within

prescribed limits. There is no way to store electricity on this scale so wind variations can

significantly alter generating capacity and disrupt local electricity supply. This may result in

over or under-voltage (brownout) conditions if transmission line companies cannot balance

the supply and loads. An Electricity Commission report has already identified this problem

in Manawatu/Tararua with occasions where wind generating capacity has changed from zero

to full power within 15 minutes.

Problems for local residents may include damage to electrical equipment in the home.

Lightning strikes at wind farm level may also impact upon residents who live nearby

electricity supply lines.

Technological improvements in generating equipment have resulted in differing systems

being used. Early wind turbines (2005) required gearboxes delivering constant speed to the

generator with associated problems in handling wind gusts and speed changes. Although

feathering of the blades can alleviate slower changing wind speeds, there are continuing

problems with gearboxes which have to deal with strong wind gusts as occur in New Zealand

conditions. Newer systems permit under/over speed conditions of up to 10% and use modern

high current conversion equipment to rectify and then regenerate a stable voltage and

frequency of power output.

Building on some areas may have historical or archaeological significance. Maori

(indigenous residents) historical sites should be investigated to ensure there is no problem.

Pierpont, Nina. 2005. Health, hazard, and quality of life near wind power installations. How

close is too close? Malone Telegram, (New York,USA). March 2, 2005, p5.

Pierpont, Nina. 2006. Health effects of wind turbine noise. February 4, 2006.

van den Berg, GP, 2004. Effects of the wind profile at night on wind turbine sound. Journal

of Sound and Vibration 277:955-970. For a pre-publication copy of this article, go to

http:/www.nowap.co.uk/docs/windnoise.pdf

And the beat goes on . . .and on and on

February 18, 2006 by Kathy Webb in Hawke's Bay Today

Copy to be found at http://www.windwatch.org/news/1693

TV1 reports and videos

Te Apiti, Meridian Wind Farm

Flurry of complaints after wind change: 25 Jul 2005

Houses Condemned at te Apiti

Compensation deal irks wind opponents: July 31, 2005

In addition, in November last year EECA arranged and paid for a meeting to consider NZS

6808 (measurement of noise from wind turbines) to see if it needed review as we had said it

did. Clearly this meeting was engineered to give the "green light" for NZS Standard 6808,

just in time for the Wellington City Council hearings on plan changes that included reference

to the Standard; changes that appeared to us clearly written at Meridian's behest. The

supposed results of that meeting have been published on the NZWEA web site. What

actually happened at that meeting was that the parties acknowledged that the Standard was

not "best practice", but until another standard was written it was the only document that could

be used. Makara Guardians is making a formal application to seek urgent review of the

Standard, and also asking for removal of the incorrect statements on the NZWEA web site

plus seek an apology to Makara Guardians to be published. Makara Guardians has never

approved of the minutes of the Standards November 2004 meeting, the minutes did not refer

to the fact that participants had agreed that the Standard did not reflect best practice and this

was to be included in the statement about "adequacy", and that the Standard was only a

"holding measure", and was not to be relied upon in isolation. All these conditional aspects of

"approval" have not been included. Unfortunately we have been too busy to do this earlier.

The Standard must be reviewed or there will be significant problems with noise for many

people and communities around New Zealand.

Makara Guardians

http://www.makaraguardians.orcon.net.nz/

New Zealand information site of group set up to oppose Meridian wind farm project called

WestWind at Makara, Wellington.

Upland Landscape Protection Society - http://www.uplandlandscapeprotection.org/index.html

The Upland Landscape Protection Society has been formed by a group of individuals from a

wide variety of backgrounds united by a profound concern for the well-being of our upland

environment. A specific catalyst for urgent action has been our extreme alarm at two

separate proposals for large-scale wind-power installations (with an aggregate of over 300

giant turbines) on the spectacularly beautiful, but ecologically fragile Lammermoor and

Lammerlaw ranges in Otago, New Zealand.

Industrial Wind Action Group

http://www.windaction.org/

Industrial Wind Action stands ready to assist communities faced with unwanted

industrialization by providing residents as well as government officials with information to

make informed decisions.

A great resource to locate up to date news on World and NZ wind farm stories. Check out

the News link by location to access Aust/NZ media stories.

The UK Noise Association http://www.ukna.org.uk/

The UK Noise Association brings together a unique coalition of key organisations lobbying

on different aspects of noise such as Traffic noise, Aircraft noise, Neighbourhood noise,

Piped Music, Low Frequency noise, Firework noise and wind farm noise.

NZ Electricity Commission http://www.electricitycommission.govt.nz/

Search on “Wind Power”

The Electricity Commission is a Crown entity set up under the Electricity Act to oversee New

Zealand's electricity industry and markets. The Commission regulates the operation of the

electricity industry and markets, to ensure electricity is produced and delivered to all

consumers in an efficient, fair, reliable and environmentally sustainable manner.

The Commission also promotes and facilitates the efficient use of electricity.