Lessons Learned Christopher Moore Southwest Renewable Energy Conference September 15, 2010.

Lessons LearnedChristopher Moore

Southwest Renewable Energy Conference

September 15, 2010

Agenda

• Bio• Obligatory Commercial• Ordinances• Primary Issues• Health & Safety Issues• Other Issues• Final Points

Christopher Moore

• 25 years developing, building and operating power plants

• Natural Gas, Diesel, Biomass, Wind• Renewables since 2001• Amoco, Alliant, Reliant, Gamesa, small IPPs• Projects in 20 states

Nature Energies Inc.

• Small firm based in Rochester, MN• Develop, own, and operate• Wind in MN, AZ• Solar in CA, AZ• Biomass in CA

Nature abhors a vacuum and developers abhor an ordinance?

• No ordinance – Great, maybe• Raises the bar for subsequent applicants. • A defined ordinance, while perhaps initially

intimidating, provides the road map to a permit.

Critical Elements

• Primary Issues– Physical impacts for groups

• Health and Safety Issues– Physical impacts for individuals

• Other Issues– Local issues

Primary IssuesIssue Mitigation

Tall structures – can be seen for miles Visual simulation, but unlikely to be persuasive. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Sound Modeling is good solution, but the decibel limitation required is the subjective point. I believe 50 db from source to residence is reasonable.

Property Values None required, study after study has shown no negative impact from wind farm installation

Visual Impact

Visual Impact - a matter of perspective

Sound

• Easily modeled• Less easily described• Illinois treats sound as pollution– Type of sound– Type of Source to type of Receiver– Time of day limits

• Best method is to visit a wind farm

Property Values

• REPP study – 2003 (repp.org/articles/static/1/binaries/wind_online_final.pdf )

• LAWRENCE BERKELEY NATIONAL LABORATORY Study – 2009 (eetd.lbl.gov/ea/ems/reports/lbnl-2829e.pdf )

• Private studies – 2004-2007, completed as part of permit hearings

• No negative impact on property values

Health and Safety IssuesIssue Mitigation

Ice Throw This used to be the number one issue, now largely discounted. More ice drop versus throw.

Shadow Flicker Modeling is a good solution and can provide a map showing the limitation of the impact. Generally, sound setbacks exceed requirements to mitigate flicker.

Low Frequency Vibration AWEA with CWEA completed a study in 2009, refuted the potential for this type of impact by a wind farm (www.canwea.ca/pdf/talkwind/Wind_Turbine_Sound_and_Health_Effects.pdf )Electromagnetic Fields (EMF) Largely discounted due to underground lines

Fire (response) Meet with and train local response unit

EMT Response (chopper) Meet with and train local response unit

Health and Safety

• Individual impacts• Subjective• Resonates because most Charters require the

protection of the health and safety of the community.

• Resolution is setbacks

Setbacks

• Early development – setbacks consisted of two areas, safety zone and annoyance zone.

• Annoyance zone has expanded• The annoyance is measured linearly, but the

impact of setbacks is exponential.

Setbacks Map

Green = Signed land

Yellow = Road (500’) and Residences (1500’)

Orange Line = Property line setbacks

Setbacks MapTotal area in this example = 12 square miles

Total leased area = 8 square miles (66%)

Land available for siting turbines = 1.9 square miles (16%)

Setbacks Map

Properties eliminated from potential for turbine siting.

Other IssuesIssue Mitigation

Construction – dust, road repair, congestion

Same as a large construction project. Survey before and repair as required.

Safety standards Require adherence to national and state codes (civil, electric, OSHA…)

Decommissioning Typical to provide security based on engineering evaluation of net cost (reduction for salvage value).

Impacts – flora, fauna, economic As required by Federal, State, local recommendations

Miscellaneous – crop dusting, FAA lights, fences…

As required for local conditions

These are the actual project construction standards

Final Points

• Ordinances are beneficial• Group issues are what people care about• Health issues are what get raised• Setbacks have an exponential, not linear,

impact• The actual construction of the project is

almost an after thought.

QuestionsChristopher MooreNature Energies2720 Superior Drive NW, #103Rochester, MN [email protected]