Location .. Location.. Location EarthCache

Location .. Location.. Location

The South Canoe Wind Energy Project is a wind farm in Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia, between Vaughan and New Russell on the South Mountain. It includes 34 wind turbines providing 102 megawatts of electricity and opened the 21st of June 2015. South Canoe is positioned in the heart of the “wind belt” where turbines can be placed on a solid base. Thus for the wind farm to be successful placement is dependent on the topography of the land .

What geological features are needed for a windmill placement?

1  - Foundation

A wind turbine is very heavy and needs a solid base. The nacelle (which houses the generator)  alone weighs more than 56 tons, the blade assembly weighs more than 36 tons, and the tower itself weighs about 71 tons — a total weight of 164 tons.

South Mountain is a Canadian range on the mainland portion of Nova Scotia. A granitic ridge stretching from the Annapolis Basin to Mount Uniacke, it forms the southern edge of the Annapolis Valley and shelters the valley from the climate effects of the pelagic coast along the Atlantic Ocean. The South Mountain range is also known as the South Mountain Batholith, the largest body of granitoid rocks in the entire Appalachians and comprises both granite barrens and granite uplands. It is estimated to have developed during the late Devonian Age.

2 - Wind Belts

A small turbine is – 299 feet high (91 meters) The mid-size is the average 380 feet high 115.8 meters and can go as tall as 550 feet (167.6 meters) and taller. The ones here are 92 meters tall.

Landforms (or orography) can influence wind speed, which affects the amount of electricity that a wind turbine can generate. Elevated areas not only experience increased wind speeds because of their increased height in the wind profile but also may cause local acceleration of the wind speed, depending on the size and shape of the landform.

If you locate your wind turbine on the top of or on the windy side of a hill, for example, you will have more access to prevailing winds than in a gully or on the leeward (sheltered) side of a hill on the same property. Other elevated landforms (bluffs, cliffs) can create turbulence, including back eddies, as the wind passes up and over them. Siting the tower to avoid the zones of turbulence created by the landform is critical.

At this site the prevailing winds usually flow from the west to the east.  Being high on the mountain the turbines would be in a good placement to catch the dominant wind pattern. Wind belts here are formed due to unequal heating of the earth and the earth's rotation that along with the flat plateau at the top of South Mountain at this location makes this a perfect spot for a wind belt.

3 - Topography

The topographical evaluation should include shape, height, length, width, and distance and direction away from the proposed turbine site of any landforms. "Nearby" could include influences from large objects such as hills, groves of trees, or high wind breaks up to a mile away, and smaller objects could include single trees and buildings, especially within 500 feet of the proposed turbine location.

The South Mountain at its highest is 280 meters.  The predominant soils are well-drained, coarse sandy loams that have developed on granite till. For the most part the soils are shallow, stony and dry. Furthermore, the landscape is dotted with large granite boulders which restrict operability and, in some cases, limit stocking levels within forest stands. Approximately 5.5 % of the ecodistrict has exposed bedrock due, in part, to the absence or shallowness of the glacial till and repeated wildfires, which have prevented the accumulation of organic matter. Even in areas where the soil drainage is imperfect to poor, the soils are usually coarse textured, sandy loams.

If you would like to learn more about the South Canoe Wind Farm check out the link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BQITmwPDmA

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Questions:

1. What is the elevation of the wind farm? Add 100 meters to your present reading to obtain total height of mountain plateau.

2. What is the shape of the land where the Turbines are located?

3.  What is the dominant rock type in the area?

4. Bonus question: How many wind turbines can you count?

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