Turning anti-wind sentiment into permits requires organization, strategy and plain ol’ grassroots politics.

By Ben Kelahan, North American Windpower, July 2009

Community relations may be the road to reputation, but understanding practical local politics paves the way to permits. Opposition groups are sophisticated, organized and well funded. They have borrowed the highest-priced tactics from corporate public relations and masterfully use the Web to circulate misinformation about the impacts of wind farms.

Understanding how the opposition plans to stop your wind farm may be the first step toward planning for its approval. The truth is that planned wind developments run into local trouble every day. Let’s begin by examining some customary tactics used by the opposition.

Opportunistic opposition

Energy developers, particularly wind developers, expect to face opposition from individual landowners and other residents based on the typical siting concerns, such as shadow flicker, noise impacts and property value arguments, that pop up across the country. However, in some cases the opposition takes on some special interest from known characters. Thus, it also takes special care in managing their impact.

Local politicians are accustomed to the usual suspects showing up at public hearings and in letters to the editor of weekly papers on controversial development projects.

Now, wind companies are beginning to notice a pattern to the cast of opponents appearing before zoning hearing boards, road commissioners and alderman, who oppose wind farms using the locality’s zoning codes and planning restrictions as tools to defeat developments town to town.

In Illinois alone, developers such as Horizon Wind Energy, NextEra Energy Resources and Iberdrola Renewables have been the targets of vociferous anti-wind sentiment.

Turning to the Web

Need talking points for the public hearing tonight? Look no further than the growing number of Web sites that circulate their own “myth versus fact” sheets about wind farms and their impact on local communities. Many of these sites have organized talking points by issue, including public safety concerns, such as wind turbine syndrome, or counter-arguments to wind energy’s effectiveness, such as like intermittency.

There are plenty of anti-wind Web sites online. These sites provide a quick primer should you be motivated to oppose the local wind farm proposed down the road. Further they provide best practices borrowed from wind energy site fights from around the globe, complete with per sonal testimonials of those that have opposed wind turbines and won.

The effectiveness of these online anti-wind sites is not necessarily their basis, because impactful opposition doesn’t necessarily need sound science or experience to be effective with local politicians. All it takes is an emotional trigger on a critical local issue to start the flames of opposition to motivate a vocal minority.

If the anti-wind sentiment goe unchecked by a majority of people in the project area who make known their support based on equally passionate arguments that activate locals to take political action on you behalf, you could be in trouble come the day of the permit vote.

Democracy in action

Wind developers are keen on establishing strong relationships within their communities. Community meetings are a popular method of introducing your project to the most people at one time.

An efficient and productive use of time and resources, community meetings provide an educational one-stop shop for answering questions and informing the public about your plans. Although these meetings can allay the concerns of locals, perceptions can change if you let the opposition speak at the gatherings.

So, that raises the question: Why have these meetings if they are not required? Some developers, mindful of being new to the community, do so as a courtesy. But is it helpful?

“It’s one thing if an agency requires a public session – you have to do those,” says Robert Kahn, a 25-year veteran public relations consultant working in wind power, “But it’s rarely a good idea to volunteer to host your own,” he says. “Too often, a public meeting simply provides opponents a chance to identify one another and get better organized. There are much better ways to get the word out.”

When the format for a community forum plays to the positions of opponents, beware.

Here’s how it typically occurs: In an effort to demonstrate transparency and a willingness to consider resident concerns about a wind development plan, the developer begins with a 10-minute presentation of the proposed plan, with specific sound bites reviewing the merits of constructing the wind farm in town. Some of the positives include green jobs, tax revenue, road improvements and donations to local schools. All of those benefits accruing to the community sound wonderful.

After your presentation, undecided residents are satisfied, even though they know it’s in your financial best interest to say so. So even after hearing the pitch, they may not trust you. Then, the outspoken opposition speaks about public safety and health issues. For those attending the hearing, it is a question of taking sides.

If you are fortunate, the undecided members will leave undecided. However, those who have decided may be recruited to speak against you at the next hearing on your special-use permit.

At some point in the approval process, holding an open house allows local residents to see visual simulations, maps and descriptions of construction plans and schedules, along with displays of planned environmental mitigations. An open house is far more relaxed than a community meeting.

Thinking like your opponents may mean acting like them. Several wind power developers have encouraged local citizens to organize support groups around which to rally environmental and property rights activists, business interests and other pro-wind constituencies. Think of these groups as an anti-not-in-my-backyard (NIMBY) antidote.

“There’s no substitute for supporters standing up and speaking out on behalf of proposed projects,” Kahn says. “They can say things which a developer, who has one hand tied behind his back, can’t.’

What you can do

However, until such counter-NIMBY organizations expand, developers must n-lake a concerted effort to outnumber the vocal minority and special interest groups that desire a political victory for their own constituencies and members. It can be done, starting with the following basic steps:

Research. Understand the political climate surrounding your project before you go public with your proposal. First, make a list of likely supporters and opponents. Then, do some research. Has this site been the subject of previous controversies? Some sites are considered too troublesome and will never succeed in obtaining change-of-use permits. Knowing the history of the site could impact your decision making.

Time and target your outreach. Never let the news media be the first to describe the impact of your wind project nor be considered the best source of facts about your plans for the site. Inform the politicians and neighbors before they read it in the press.

Persuade. Go door to door informing landowners and residents. Explain the proposal, and attempt to determine who will support it, who will stay neutral and who will oppose. Shortcuts, such as hosting public meetings, will not do the trick in inoculating public opinion over a wind power project.

Get started by scheduling small meetings with key constituencies and community leaders. “These are the people who shape local opinion,” says Kahn. “Their support will be indispensable in countering the opposition.”

Political process. You need to attack this as if you were a local politician running for office, which means identifying, recruiting and organizing. Organize supporters, and then get them to attend meetings, sign petitions and write letters to the editor. Above all, you need to demonstrate public support equal to or greater than that of your opponents.

Negotiate when possible. In some cases, you can offer mitigation, or negotiate in some other way to get opponents to drop their positions. In other cases, the opponents or their backers have an economic interest in defeating your project that will never be overcome by an attempt at compromise.

In those cases, you must marshal sufficient political support to overcome the opposition and be prepared to educate your supporters in the community about what you know about your opposition – where they come from and why you feel they’re involved. Let them be the judge.

Ben Kelahan is senior vice president, energy, at Vienna, Va.-based Saint Consulting Group, a community outreach consultancy. He can be reached at (703) 531-8274 or kelahan@tscg.biz.

purslane.wordpress.com

Despite record growth over the past several years, the wind industry in North America still faces numerous challenges. Among these challenges, wind plant underperformance versus preconstruction estimates has been cited as one of the top issues. In fact, it is generally believed that North American wind plants, on average, perform about 10% below their preconstruction forecast levels.

By Daniel Harpstead, William Gates, Ronald Gibson & Keith Yamatani

It is well known that wind tower are subject to considerable stress because of the sizes of the turbines mounted atop them and the forces created by wind pushing against turbine blades. In turn, these stresses introduce cyclic and constant torque, tension and compression stresses on the pads and foundation systems. ...

Turbine structures encounter large horizontal wind loads. In turn, these loads create stress on the foundation by inducing tension on the leading edge of the foundation and compression on the trailing edge of the foundation. These stresses move as the wind shifts direction. ...

While geologic behavior is critical to turbine design and operation, owners and design teams should also consider access roads, lay-down areas and crane support during the subsurface investigation phase of a wind turbine project.

Access roads are used for component delivery of the turbines, blades and other construction equipment typically delivered by truck. Some turbine components (blades, specifically) are more than 100 feet in length and heavy, thus requiring special trucks with multiple axles. Often, there are limitations to the grades at which these trucks can traverse and turn while carrying these blades to the wind farm site. Because wind turbines are often placed on ridge tops, construction costs may rise significantly if large quantities of retaining walls are required to facilitate truck access during construction.

 Lay-down areas for construction equipment should also be considered during the subsurface investigation. Large trucks with heavy loads will need to access lay-down areas in addition to turbine locations.

 Finally, large cranes are generally required to erect wind turbines. The crane typeand loading conditions should be evaluated by the geotechnical and structural engineers to establish what subgrade improvement or, in some cases, foundation is required to support the cranes used for construction.

By Nora Caley

"When you look at a wind farm, 30 percent to 50 percent of the construction dollars are going toward the electrical infrastructure," says Larry Sevy, president of Tetra Tech Electric Inc. In Pasadena, Calif. "That involves a lot of cabling."

Sevy, whose company provides services such as engineer-procure-construct and balance-of-plant construction services for wind farms, adds that cabling wind farms is a complex endeavor. The cables can be three inches in diameter, and the spools can weight up to 10,000 pounds. That presents logistical challenges, particularly for wind farms located in remote areas.

"You have limited rights of way, and access between towers is usually limited to brand-new gravel roads," he says. ...

Tom Lenaghan, [Madison, Wis.-based] RMT Inc.'s director of project development, notes that wind projects tend to have more underground cabling than other utility generators.

"It's not like one power plant feeding one system," he remarks. "The generation is distributed over a large area, and that causes you to have to put more electrical collection system lines in."

Lenaghan says a 100 MW wind project could have up to 150,000 feet of trenches containing underground cables.

"There are three cables in each trench, so that's 450,000 feet of cable," he explains.

By Phil Hall

"I'm seeing a lot of blade and gearbox failures," Rick Koebbe, president of PowerWorks Inc., Tracy Calif., adds. ...

"We get a lot of rain in wintertime, and that causes a lot of failure in turbines," he continues.

By Mark Del Franco

The site Washington's Windy Point project, developed by Cannon Power Corp., is among the windiest locations in the state. The area features an upper and lower plateau with more than 1,000 feet of elevation difference between them, which caused the project's turbine vendor some trepidation about the potential negative effects wind veer (i.e., the change of wind direction at different heights) could have on its turbines. ...

"Nowadays, the turbines are so large and so costly, the failures are more spectacular -- and, of curse, more costly," Ron Nierenber, a Camas, Wash.-based meteorologist, says.

The meteorological data reported on climate forms represent the basis under which turbine warranties are created. That climate forms are becoming mandatory is evidence that today's wind turbines -- with their carbon fiber blades and wingspans exceeding that of a 747 jet -- are highly engineered and delicate. ...

It is also notable that as the forms required by the vendors become more complex, some warranties are evaporating. "It used be that warranties were good for five years," Rolf Miller, technical consulting services manager for St. Paul, Minn.-based consultancy WindLogics, says. "Now, you're lucky to get two."

"We went from no transmission at all to having a terrible fight over transmission," Horizon Wind Energy's Mark Lawlor says. "Both movements had the same result: no wind connectivity."

Realignment

"This is a huge challenge and has to be addressed at a national level," Susan Giordano, general manager at Second Wind Inc. in Sommerville, Mass., says. "Part of the solution in developing renewables has to begin with transmissions, and the willingness to accept transmissions through your community is part of the renewables mission."

Power distribution

If you build it ...

The wider world

Electrical damage

High-frequency currents induced on the shafts of wind turbine generators can reach levels of 60 A and 1,200 V or greater. Once these voltages reach a level sufficient to overcome the dielectric properties of the grease in the generator bearings (which are designed to operate with a thin layer of oil between the rotating ball and the bearing race), they discharge along the path of least resistance typically the bearings - to the generator housing.

Voltage discharges from the generator shaft to the frame via the bearings, leaving a small fusion crater in the bearing race. These discharges are so frequent that, before long, the entire bearing race becomes marked with countless pits, known as frosting. As damage continues, the frosting increases - eventually leading to noisy bearings and, ultimately, bearing failure.

A phenomenon known as fluting may also occur, producing washboard-like ridges across the frosted bearing race. Fluting can cause excessive noise and vibration, which also leads to bearing failure.

Most of today's wind turbine generators have insulated bearing housings and shaft grounding brushes. However, without proper maintenance, these components can fail and rapidly lead to bearing failure.

For instance, the insulation in the bearing housing can become contaminated with carbon and other conductive material, leaving a path for shaft voltages to travel. Regular maintenance of the grounding brush and ground ring is important to keep a low resistance path to ground. The grounding brushes must be inspected often.

Also, using the improper grade of brush can cause excessive wear to the ground ring or corrosive buildup on the ring. This will result in poor contact between the brush and ring.

Lubrication

Improper lubrication of bearings is also a leading cause of failure. Not enough grease or too much grease will lead to premature failure. Because of the remote locations of most wind generators, a lack of grease is more common. ...

Grease compatibility (or incompatibility) is a huge issue in the wind industry. For example, incompatible additives used in bearing grease can cause deterioration and subsequent failure of the bearing bronze cage, resulting in a catastrophic generator failure. ...

Misalignment

It is generally agreed that proper alignment is critical to the life of a machine. Coupling wear or failure, bearing failure and bearing housing damage are all common results of poor alignment.

"At [the American Wind Wildlife Institute (AWWI)], we don't propose shutting down and not building wind farms while we study impacts, but we do need to have a better understanding of where these impacts occur the most." [Julia Levin, director, National Audubon Society, and chair, AWWI)

AWWI was created last year with support from the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) board of directors and the AWEA siting committee to address regional -- rather than site-specific -- issues related to wind development, and wildlife and habitat protection. ...

Levin stresses the importance of education in the organization's initiatives. "We need to separate the [not-in-my-backyard] concerns from the legitimate concerns," he [sic] says. "We can't say 'no' to all energy development." ...

"This isn't esoteric," agrees Levin. "We don't know what spoke in the wheel we can pull out without the wheel collapsing. That's why this is such important work.