SUNY Canton Wind Energy System

Transcription

1 SUNY Canton Wind Energy System Visual Assessment June 2013 Prepared for the New York Power Authority and the State University of New York at Canton

2 VISUAL ASSESSMENT / PHOTOMONTAGE One part of a wind project, which cannot easily be quantified, is the aesthetics and how people within sight of the project will perceive the wind turbine. Most wind turbines reach high into the air and have potential to be visible from the surrounding area. SED performed a visual assessment to determine how a wind turbine would appear from eight (8) different locations around the Project Site. It is important to provide this visual assessment so that project stakeholders and the community can understand what the finished turbine will look like. Site Selection The selection of picture locations for this assessment was based on two major criteria. First, it was important to choose a location where the proposed turbine would be clearly visible. Secondly, in order to accurately develop the photo simulation, reference points were needed within the picture. Reference points are static locations in the pictures that can be referenced on a satellite images and are typically accomplished by including unique geographic features, buildings, or towers in the foreground of the picture. Two balloons were floated to represent the hub height and maximum blade tip height for the proposed Vestas turbine. These balloons also act as control points to align the proposed turbine position and height while used in conjunction with the static control points within the foreground of the pictures. SED ultimately decided on multiple locations, which represent a clear view of the turbine from the northwest and southeast. Photos were rendered with an animation of the proposed Vestas V100 turbine with an 80m (262.5ft) hub height for the following two locations: 1. Location 1 Looking northwest from Canton Village Park Historic District 07NR05785 and Historic US Post Office 90NR Location 2 Looking northwest from entrance to Heritage Island Park from Route 68/Main Street 3. Location 3 Looking east southeast from entrance to DEC boat launch on Route Location 4 Looking northwest from Jubilee grocery store parking lot off of Miner St. 5. Location 5 Looking north northwest from ball field at Canton Recreation Office at the end of Lincoln St. 6. Location 6 Looking north from Old Canton Rd. approximately 0.5 miles south of the Route 68 intersection 7. Location 7 Looking southeast from the bend in CR 27 between Morely-Potsdam Rd. and Calnon Rd. 8. Location 8 Looking west from CR 27 just north of the cemetery near Remington Trail Methodology SED used the Visual Assessment module of the software program WindPRO, created by EMD International A/S. This report was created by certified user Bill Court, SED, USA using WindPRO version In order to determine how a wind turbine would appear from these locations, SED considered the hub height of 80 meters (262.5ft) and rotor diameter of 100 meters (328.1ft) for the Vestas V100 wind turbine. The WindPRO photo simulation also implemented a digital elevation model from the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The wireframe representation of the digital elevation model represents the topography so the picture can be aligned appropriately. A Sony DSC-H9 digital camera was used for all photographs. All photographs in this simulation were taken at approximately a 35mm film format equivalent with a 50mm focal length, which most closely approximates the field of view that is equivalent to what would be seen by the human eye. In order to correctly position the modeled turbine in the

3 simulation a 5.5 foot diameter ball shaped balloon was floated to the hub height of 80 meters (262.5ft) and a 13 foot long blimp shaped balloon was floated to the maximum blade tip height of 130 meters (426.5ft) at the proposed site on April 17, 2013 to serve as reference points. Weather conditions were favorable for a balloon float with light to medium winds, light cloud cover, and clear visibility. The proposed turbine location and the locations chosen for the visual assessment are shown on a satellite image in Figure 1-1.

4 Figure 1-1 Photo Simulation Locations

5 Figure 1-2 Visual Simulation of a Vestas V100 from Photo Location #1

6 Figure 1-3 Visual Simulation of a Vestas V100 from Photo Location #2

7 Figure 1-4 Visual Simulation of a Vestas V100 from Photo Location #3

8 Figure 1-5 Visual Simulation of a Vestas V100 from Photo Location #4

9 Figure 1-6 Visual Simulation of a Vestas V100 from Photo Location #5

10 Figure 1-7 Visual Simulation of a Vestas V100 from Photo Location #6

11 Figure 1-8 Visual Simulation of a Vestas V100 from Photo Location #7

12 Figure 1-9 Visual Simulation of a Vestas V100 from Photo Location #8