Wind farm fans mixed response

Last week, a proposal by Franco-South African wind energy company, InnoWind, to build a local wind farm, was accepted by the National Department of Environmental Affairs. This decision has elicited a variety of responses from the Grahamstown community. Environmentalists are thrilled, but the locals living close to the chosen location are concerned that not all of the necessary studies have been carried out. Reporter, Gabi Falanga, found out about the good, the bad and the ugly surrounding the wind farm.

THE GOOD

The uninterrupted view of the Grahamstown Highlands from a bench at the Monastery. The three turbines which were not approved by the National Department of Environmental Affairs, would have been on this hill. These three turbines were not approved because of the visual and noise impact they would have had on the monastery.
Photo by Dianne Jordan

Dr Garth Cambray was instrumental in developing the wind farm proposal. Here he stands at a trigonometrical beacon, near the spot where one of the turbines will be built.
Photo by Leigh Raymond

No environmentally unfriendly emissions. One step further to being South Africa’s first green city. A community education trust. Countless academic opportunities. These are a few of the benefits that a wind farm will bring to Grahamstown.
The development of a wind farm will mean that Makana has an alternative source of energy available. The energy created by the turbines will be sold to Eskom and used by Grahamstown, while any excess will flow onto the electricity grid, where it can be used in other areas. Unfortunately however, this does not mean that electricity tariffs will be reduced. Electricity rates are regulated by the national regulator and locals will be billed as per usual by Eskom and the municipality. What it does mean, according to Dr Garth Cambray, who was instrumental in developing the wind farm proposal, is that it will significantly decrease the chance of load shedding for our town.
A project company will be formed to control the wind farm, in which InnoWind, will own the main share. Up to a quarter of the shares will be owned by the Makana Winds of Change Community Trust, however the exact figure is yet to be confirmed. Nikki Kohly, Rhodes University’s health, safety and environmental officer says the primary focus of the Trust will be education funding through scholarships and bursaries. Cambray is excited that some of the profits will contribute to Grahamstown’s local economy and education. “This means that when we turn a light on once the wind farm is going, we turn a light on at the end of the tunnel to a sustainable, dignified future for a young mind,” he says.
The wind farm’s proximity to Rhodes University will create new academic opportunities. Kohly says the wind farm may be one of the first commercial wind farms to operate in South
Africa and will “provide exciting research opportunities relating to wind farms, in areas such as environmental science, economics and social science”.
On top of this, the wind farm’s impact on the local ecosystem has been rated as medium to low impact and emission free. It is also a renewable form of energy and safer than alternatives, such as nuclear power.

THE BAD AND THE UGLY

Caroline, Liam (6), Russel and Nicholas (4) Field sit in front of the hill where five of the wind turbines are to be erected. The wind turbines will be less than a kilometre away from their house and they are concerned about the impact that noise and flicker will have on their children's health. The wind turbines will also be visually intrusive, potentially chasing away their foreign clients.
Photo by Dianne Jordan

“This is my dream home. We have a great lifestyle here and it’s possibly going to be ruined,” says Caroline Field. The Field family live on Coldsprings farm, where they breed buffalo and sable. Their house faces the hill where five of the wind turbines will be erected, should the project go ahead. These turbines, which will be placed on a neighbour’s farm, is just beyond their boundary fence and less than one kilometre from their house. Although the Fields aren’t against the implementation of green power, they are worried about the health, lifestyle and economic effects that the close proximity of the wind turbines will have on them.
“Our biggest concern is for our kids, because they say the infrasound isn’t very good for you. I don’t think they’ve researched the health aspects,” says Caroline Field as she watches Liam (6) and Nicholas (4) jumping on the trampoline. However, the Environmental Impact Report, compiled by Coastal and Environmental Services (CES) states that “the impact of low frequency noise and infra sound will be negligible” and that “there is no evidence to suggest that adverse health effects will occur as the sound power levels generated in the low frequency range are not high enough to cause physiological effects”.

Russell Field isn’t convinced that the project will be a success once it is operational. He is concerned that the project will not be able to meet its financial obligations and that Eskom does not yet know how to integrate the wind power into the main electricity grid. “I think it’s going to become scrap metal on the skyline,” he says.
The Field’s main source of income is from foreign clients who visit their lodge. “They will never come here with these things,” says Caroline Field about the visual impact that the turbines will have on their farm.
The Fields will be appealing the decision. One of the grounds of their appeal will be that a geo-technical analysis of the area has not yet been done. Local geologist, Dr Nick Stavrakis, explains that the underlying geology in the proposed location is not stable enough to support the immense weight of the turbines. Principal environmental consultant at CES, Marc Hardy, says that detailed geotechnical surveys will be conducted before construction begins to ensure that the underlying geology is suitable to support the turbines.


Dr Nick Stavrakis specialises in applied geology. He feels that not enough is known about the underlying geology at the location chosen for the wind farm. Stavrakis says the ground in this area consists mainly of clay (shown in yellow on the map) and is not stable, especially when under direct pressure. Stavrakis feels the Grahamstown Peneplain area (shown in brown and white on the map) near the substation would be a better location, because that ground consists of a very thick, strong layer of silcrete rock.
Photo by Gabi Falanga

Published in Grocott's Mail on 25 March 2011.