What Hackney council doesn't know about the Hackney wind turbine
By turbinerotor | Wednesday, March 10, 2010, 18:36
I may not be the only Hackney resident who missed a trick by not taking part in the consultation on the Hackney Wind Turbine. I wanted to form an opinion either way, but I found I just didn't have enough information.Crucially, I wanted to look more closely at the claim that the proposed turbine would power not only the council's own buildings, but all of Hackney's street lights. After all, this was how the scheme was packaged: as a significant source of renewable energy.
With an open mind, I wrote to the council and asked some basic questions. Here is what I found out. I'm editorialising here, of course, and blatantly so, but if you want the raw questions and answers, please visit my blog. It's all there.
about the proposed wind turbine on Hackney Marshes
1) Hackney council does not know the potential power output of the wind
turbine on Hackney Marshes.
2) Hackney council does not know on how many days a year the proposed
wind turbine will be able to produce its maximum power output.
3) Hackney council does not know on how many days a year the proposed
wind turbine will be able to produce 50% of its maximum output.
4) Hackney council does not know on how many days a year the proposed
turbine is predicted to be idling and therefore not producing any
electricity whatever.
5) There is no site-specific data on the power-generation capacity of
the wind turbine.
6) Hackney council references Ecotricity, a turbine developer with
vested interests, in its discussion of modelling carried out on another
local site.
Source: this summary was prepared from information gained from Hackney council under
the Freedom of Information Act (2000), on 8 March 2010.
As I say, this article is an extract from my blog, which contains a full transcript of the questions I asked under FOIA and Hackney council's answer.
I also touch briefly on the consultation participation rate, and on questions of revenue and expenditure related to the proposed scheme.
Alistair Siddons
Comments
It seems like Hackney Council did not know an awful lot about this wind turbine! Hopefully they will do some proper research into the plan.
By ABattisby at 15:18 on 21/06/10
ReportNow the Olympic Delivery Authority has scrapped the Eton Manor wind turbine, isn't it high time for those elusive electricity production facts on the east marsh wind turbine?
The Olympics Delivery Authority's (ODA's) decision to scrap its Eton Manor wind turbine has been widely reported. The ODA is now looking for alternative sources of renewable energy at the Olympic Park.
But let's rewind for a minute. I set my blog up because of an information vaccuum: my Freedom of Information Act request to Hackney Council had proved that it just didn't have its head round the power production potential for a second turbine, proposed for Hackney's east marsh. Putting it bluntly, it guessed the thing could spin, but had no idea how many light bulbs it could power.
If we're to really believe its claims to be fully backing the east marsh wind turbine's development, we still need to see evidence that Hackney council has now done its maths.
http://tinyurl.com/28xqbne
By turbinerotor at 17:54 on 20/06/10
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