peakbagger
In Rembrance , July 2024
I wasn't aware of this recent news regarding the need to widen the roads at the Millsfield wind farm
http://nhpr.org/post/public-counsel-hearings-widening-road-wind-turbines-should-be-held-coos
I am not surprised, many wind turbine wind developers tended to understate maintenance on early wind farms and the unfortunate approach was to abandon the turbines in place when they stopped working after the developers were long gone. Most projects are now subject to third party bonding to force the developer or their successors to remove turbine once they are out of operation for a set period of time. Thus wind developers now have to at least think about long term major maintenance. Unfortunately, gearboxes that have to convert low speed wind input to high speed output have a finite life and when they fail, the cranes required to replace them are huge, thus the need to widen the roads.
http://nhpr.org/post/public-counsel-hearings-widening-road-wind-turbines-should-be-held-coos
I am not surprised, many wind turbine wind developers tended to understate maintenance on early wind farms and the unfortunate approach was to abandon the turbines in place when they stopped working after the developers were long gone. Most projects are now subject to third party bonding to force the developer or their successors to remove turbine once they are out of operation for a set period of time. Thus wind developers now have to at least think about long term major maintenance. Unfortunately, gearboxes that have to convert low speed wind input to high speed output have a finite life and when they fail, the cranes required to replace them are huge, thus the need to widen the roads.