Wind power old and new

Vejer de la Frontera is on the Costa de la Luz, the Coast of Light, west of the straits of Gibraltar where the Atlantic meets the Mediterranean.

This coast is the windiest place in Europe which is why Tarifa, about half an hour’s drive from Vejer, is a mecca for surfers.

It’s also an obvious place to harness the power of the wind and one of the features of its sky line is windmills old . .

 

. . .  and new:

Wind generation has been controversial here, what interested us was there are no pylons leading from the windmills which presumably means power is transmitted underground.

Mahinerangi wind farm approved

The ODT  has been told that Trustpower’s $400 million Mahinerangi wind farm has been approved by the Environment Court although it has not had official confirmation. 

Upland Landscape Protection Society legal co-ordinator Ewan Carr said in Cromwell yesterday the wind farm had been approved by the court, “subject to conditions”.

“But we don’t know what the conditions are.”

The UPS was the main appellant in an appeal to the Environment Court after the project was originally approved by a joint committee of the Clutha District Council and the Otago Regional Council last year.

The wind farm  will have 100 145m-high turbines capable of generating 200MW of power which is enough to supply about 100,000 homes.

Results from a Reserach New Zealand  poll released at the weekend found 84% of people asked were not opposed to wind farms although opposition doubled to 26% when people were asked if they would mind seeing them from their homes.