View Full Version : Farmers And Wind Turbines
Green_not_greed
21-Jun-08, 16:37
An article in the Belfast Telegraph earlier this week reported a scheme in Northern Ireland through the Department of Agriculture where farmers were offered a grant to part fund installation of a wind turbine at their farm. About 18 months ago, 11 turbines were supplied through the Department from a Chinese manufacturer. Seven refused to work and four threw their blades soon after they started working - at least 2 of those threw blade parts through nearby buildings, including a farmhouse in which the farmer and his family were sleeping. Luckily no-one was hurt.
It doesn't say a lot about Chinese engineering or quality control.
This has all been hushed up by the Department of Agriculture until now - farmers having finally lost patience as they remain tens of thousands of pounds out of pocket and nothing appears to be getting done.
The article can be found at
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/article3810988.ece
I was wondering if Scottish farmers are being offered any similar schemes and if anyone in Caithness has considered taking them up?
percy toboggan
21-Jun-08, 16:57
Just an aside:
I was in northern France t'other week...Farmers there get two grand per annum for every wind turbine on their land.
Kevin Milkins
21-Jun-08, 17:56
Just an aside:
I was in northern France t'other week...Farmers there get two grand per annum for every wind turbine on their land.
Is that pounds or euro's Perce
It just goes to show the level of importantance that farmers and other developers should place on build quality and siting of these developments. Personally, I wouldn't buy anything from the Chinese, just because of my doubts about the quality of after sales service etc.
I was wondering if Scottish farmers are being offered any similar schemes and if anyone in Caithness has considered taking them up?
A DARD spokesperson said the Wind Energy For Rural Businesses project was funded under the EU programme for Building Sustainable Prosperity, which ran from 2001 to 2006.
It seems the door has closed on the funding, at least that is how I am reading it.
It just goes to show the level of importantance that farmers and other developers should place on build quality and siting of these developments. Personally, I wouldn't buy anything from the Chinese, just because of my doubts about the quality of after sales service etc.
Try 88 in Thurso you will get a great carry out!
Just an aside:
I was in northern France t'other week...Farmers there get two grand per annum for every wind turbine on their land.
Do you mean they get the 2K subsidy (in addition to income from leasing their land to developers) from the State Percy? Farmers here are offered £9K and upwards per annum per turbine from developers.
Do you have a reference source?
Personally, I wouldn't buy anything from the Chinese, just because of my doubts about the quality of after sales service etc.
"We can have an engineer there in about 3 weeks...."
KEEP_ON_TRUCKIN
21-Jun-08, 21:17
2k for the French seems awfully cheap - for some reason I was under the impressions the big yuns over here for example those on causewaymire rake in 15k a year for the landowners???
KEEP_ON_TRUCKIN
21-Jun-08, 21:18
and 15k each not 15k for the whole yolk!
Kevin Milkins
21-Jun-08, 21:50
and 15k each not 15k for the whole yolk!
Could I get 2 of those in my garden at Leith Walk and thats me sorted.:D
percy toboggan
22-Jun-08, 14:02
Do you mean they get the 2K subsidy (in addition to income from leasing their land to developers) from the State Percy? Farmers here are offered £9K and upwards per annum per turbine from developers.
Do you have a reference source?
Yes...an English bloke called Stan, stood in a field.:roll:;)
Two grand (pounds) as I understood it.
Might post some vid on you tube as I had a walk up to them one night.
I was surprised at their relative lack of impact. There were about eight of 'em. Little sound even close up. I'd guess one hundred and twenty feet high. Worst bit for me were the shadows flicking over the ground constantly when the sun was in the right/wrong place. Didn't like that.
I was constantly drawn to these things for some reason...probably just because they were there. Not used to seeing them so close. They were about half a mile from our holiday cottage.
Strange...the owner didn't mention 'em on the description of the place.:(
I drove past the Causeymire turbines the other day (when the sun was shining) and noticed the shadow flicker. It was coming from more than one of the turbines and I found it very distracting. This together with the need to concentrate on making it round the bend without gawking at the nearest ones makes a big question over why they were allowed so close to the road?
I drove past the Causeymire turbines the other day (when the sun was shining) and noticed the shadow flicker. It was coming from more than one of the turbines and I found it very distracting. This together with the need to concentrate on making it round the bend without gawking at the nearest ones makes a big question over why they were allowed so close to the road?
Is there a reason for them to always be painted white? Low flying planes maybe? If planes are that low then it's already too late-colour ain't gonna save them!
If they were painted green to blend in with the landscape then maybe they wouldn't be as much of a distraction.
The Pepsi Challenge
23-Jun-08, 02:20
Hasn't the government already written off Caithness to wind farms? I thought that was a done thing, no?
I drove past the Causeymire turbines the other day (when the sun was shining) and noticed the shadow flicker. It was coming from more than one of the turbines and I found it very distracting. This together with the need to concentrate on making it round the bend without gawking at the nearest ones makes a big question over why they were allowed so close to the road?
What time was that and on what day?:confused It is possible for me to verify what you claim.
Is there a reason for them to always be painted white? Low flying planes maybe? If planes are that low then it's already too late-colour ain't gonna save them!
If they were painted green to blend in with the landscape then maybe they wouldn't be as much of a distraction.
I think it's believed that the whitish colour blends in best with the background. If you look on developers' websites they're barely visible at all. If something is 360 feet tall and painted green, it would have to blend in with the sky - green just wouldn't do it.
I believe the greenish-grey colour of the DFR sphere at Dounreay is a camouflage colour too and that doesn't particularly stand out. Not compared to the huge white thing at Janetstown, which has lighthouse tendencies.
What time was that and on what day?:confused It is possible for me to verify what you claim.
I'm a bit hurt that you think I'm making this up Rheggy but go ahead verify away - it was on Saturday 21st June at approx 8.15pm heading north.
I'm a bit hurt that you think I'm making this up Rheggy but go ahead verify away - it was on Saturday 21st June at approx 8.15pm heading north.
Don't be hurt at all, I wasn't suggesting you were lying, I was merely finding it hard what you were saying was true. When I am back in Scotland I have the software to verify the shadows etc. It probably has something to do with midsummer.
ywindythesecond
23-Jun-08, 23:08
2k for the French seems awfully cheap - for some reason I was under the impressions the big yuns over here for example those on causewaymire rake in 15k a year for the landowners???
The going rate seems to be about 10K per turbine. I can't back that up as recipients don't advertise their income. There is also a widely held belief that the Landowner on the Causeymire undersold his land, and is getting much less, and that is perhaps why he continues to work for a living touting for windfarm sites.
ywindythesecond
23-Jun-08, 23:27
Is there a reason for them to always be painted white? Low flying planes maybe? If planes are that low then it's already too late-colour ain't gonna save them!
If they were painted green to blend in with the landscape then maybe they wouldn't be as much of a distraction.
Green wouldn't work any better. Nor would blue or grey. The white is a compromise which blends with the background more often than other colours would. The changing light has the greatest effect on how a turbine looks. Oh and also the fact that the blades are birling at a great rate of knots sometimes.
The photos below were taken at Forss within seven minutes of each other.
http://www.caithnesshost.co.uk/syv/9a.jpg
http://www.caithnesshost.co.uk/syv/9c.jpg
http://www.caithnesshost.co.uk/syv/9d.jpg
The photos below were taken at Forss within seven minutes of each other.
http://www.caithnesshost.co.uk/syv/9a.jpg
http://www.caithnesshost.co.uk/syv/9c.jpg
http://www.caithnesshost.co.uk/syv/9d.jpg
You must have been quick on your feet to get to the different shooting locations and the wind must have been blowing a hooly to get vastly different clouds.
ywindythesecond
24-Jun-08, 19:18
You must have been quick on your feet to get to the different shooting locations and the wind must have been blowing a hooly to get vastly different clouds.
I was in my car, the photo locations are all near Forss. You can check them out on the A836.
The wind only needed to blow clouds over the sun, does it all the time. Take your camera out and take photos of clouds at one minute intervals. Compare the first to the fourth to the seventh.
This is the second time in this thread that you have cast doubt upon the veracity of a post.
You live nearby, next time you doubt what people say, check it out first, and if you can, post a sound, reasoned and verifiable refutation, not a wild unfounded insinuation.
The going rate seems to be about 10K per turbine. I can't back that up as recipients don't advertise their income. There is also a widely held belief that the Landowner on the Causeymire undersold his land, and is getting much less, and that is perhaps why he continues to work for a living touting for windfarm sites.
I had heard that this landowner of this farm was getting 22k per annum for each windmill. This is the same landowner who has the redundant peatshed scheme at Westerdale which is IMO an even bigger eyesore than the windmills themselves. Maybe Rheghead could verify if this is the case or not.
percy toboggan
24-Jun-08, 19:40
I would have posted my little piece to camera at the French wind-farm by now but the uploader is playing up. I delivered my own somewhat favourable verdict on smallish turbines in smallish clusters.
Two hundred metres away one could discern a 'wafting' sound...nothing more. The ground was not moving. That said there was only the merest hint of a breeze. I
was pleased to get up close and personal with the things. It involved a one mile, rather uncomfortable walk (I'd been on the Vin Rouge you see) but it was worth it.
Not a bad little film clip either - if I do say so myself. The things are rather compelling, almost haunting. Pristine paint and apparently benign. Only the flicking shadows gave me cause for concern. No good driver would be distracted by them though. However, if forced to live close by the appearance, and the metronomic regularity of the swooping shadows would really get my goat.
Just ply your goat with plenty of Vin Rouge - I'm sure it wouldn't notice the swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh after a while...
I would have posted my little piece to camera at the French wind-farm by now but the uploader is playing up. I delivered my own somewhat favourable verdict on smallish turbines in smallish clusters.
Two hundred metres away one could discern a 'wafting' sound...nothing more. The ground was not moving. That said there was only the merest hint of a breeze. I
was pleased to get up close and personal with the things. It involved a one mile, rather uncomfortable walk (I'd been on the Vin Rouge you see) but it was worth it.
Not a bad little film clip either - if I do say so myself. The things are rather compelling, almost haunting. Pristine paint and apparently benign. Only the flicking shadows gave me cause for concern. No good driver would be distracted by them though. However, if forced to live close by the appearance, and the metronomic regularity of the swooping shadows would really get my goat.
Agree 100%. Thing is folks are not forced to live near them, they are forced upon them. They make one heck of a noise when your close and with sufficient wind. Still there's always the Halkirk Comunity Benefit Fund to consider.
I think I am on my own is saying that I LIKE Wind Turbines, I think there kinda cool in a metal swirly thing kinda way :)
They look really nice on the landscape, makes a change from all that boring green that were surrounded by.
Lets have more of them, thats what I say.
I posted this Youtube link awhile ago on another thread but for those who haven't seen it or experienced what shadow flicker from wind turbines can be like inside a home or building it is worth watching. (Also, nice music to listen to whilst you are watching).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLFzFtXHWAg&feature=related
In my opinion this would be unbearable to live with. See what you think.
I think I am on my own is saying that I LIKE Wind Turbines, I think there kinda cool in a metal swirly thing kinda way :)
They look really nice on the landscape, makes a change from all that boring green that were surrounded by.
Lets have more of them, thats what I say.
Come and live at Westerdale then, or just stay put in Caithness and eventually you'll be able to appreciate the cool metal swirlyness of them from your own armchair.
I posted this Youtube link awhile ago on another thread but for those who haven't seen it or experienced what shadow flicker from wind turbines can be like inside a home or building it is worth watching. (Also, nice music to listen to whilst you are watching).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLFzFtXHWAg&feature=related
In my opinion this would be unbearable to live with. See what you think.
Mmm, that's pretty shocking. Has Rheghead verified it's authenticity though?
I was in my car, the photo locations are all near Forss. You can check them out on the A836.
The wind only needed to blow clouds over the sun, does it all the time. Take your camera out and take photos of clouds at one minute intervals. Compare the first to the fourth to the seventh.
This is the second time in this thread that you have cast doubt upon the veracity of a post.
You live nearby, next time you doubt what people say, check it out first, and if you can, post a sound, reasoned and verifiable refutation, not a wild unfounded insinuation.
yeah, and the coos in the foreground did a runner as well in those precious 7 minutes.[lol]
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