These are going to be 2.5MW turbines - not 1.5 - and they have 40m diameter blades (80m diameter) with an 80m tower.
Agreed about the failure aspect. They are (mostly) safe but when they fail it can be spectacular. Even a nut or a bolt falling from that height can kill someone. One of the turbines is within topple distance of a crossroads which - although not a major road - is well used by local traffic, walkers, cyclists and horseriders.
The other broblem is ice-drop from static blades and ice-fling from turning ones. One windfarm in Loncolnshire threw 2 ft blcoks of ice into its neighbouring village.
In 1969 ice brought down the Emley Moor TV mast - just across the valley from us and with very similar weather conditions. The mast came down due to uneven ice build-up with prevailing winds and a period of freeze-thaw-freeze - so they can't even say 'It will never happen here' because it has.
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Agreed about the failure aspect. They are (mostly) safe but when they fail it can be spectacular. Even a nut or a bolt falling from that height can kill someone. One of the turbines is within topple distance of a crossroads which - although not a major road - is well used by local traffic, walkers, cyclists and horseriders.
The other broblem is ice-drop from static blades and ice-fling from turning ones. One windfarm in Loncolnshire threw 2 ft blcoks of ice into its neighbouring village.
In 1969 ice brought down the Emley Moor TV mast - just across the valley from us and with very similar weather conditions. The mast came down due to uneven ice build-up with prevailing winds and a period of freeze-thaw-freeze - so they can't even say 'It will never happen here' because it has.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emley_Moor_transmitting_station#Mast_collapse