Last Sunday I took a short road trip to see the 880kW turbine that has gone up at Marshville, just west of River John (16 km east Tatamagouche). The tower is only 50m with 48m diameter rotors, but it is still impressive.
I was very disappointed to see how close to the road it is. It is only about 100m from the road. There are many safety concerns over a turbine being so close including thrown ice, turbine failure or fire.
This turbine is, for it’s height, approximately at the setback from the road that Cumberland County is proposing for turbines.
If something goes wrong, poorly positioned turbines like this can give wind power a bad name. In the appropriate location, turbines can be beneficial for the environment.
Sunday was a rather grey day, so my photos are also a little grey.
Remember, this is only a 50m tower . The turbine towers proposed for Pugwash/Gulf Shore are 80m!
There was very little wind, but even back at the road I could clearly hear the whooshing of each blade as it passed the tower. There was also a highly irritating high pitched whine.
I didn't approach the tower as some others had. There was a no trespassing sign posted.
