Hodges Badge wind turbine’s first spins delayed until 2012  

Credit:  By Sandy McGee, Portsmouth Patch, portsmouth.patch.com 22 December 2011 ~~

Those anticipating the future Hodges Badge wind turbine to start spinning will have to wait until after the new year.

After a manufacturing flaw was discovered earlier this week, the turbine was shipped to a repair company in Grafton, MA. The turbine has since returned to Portsmouth, but its repairs have now postponed future work and the first spin until 2012.

Rick Hodges, president of the Hodges Badge Co., says he “will roll with the punches and finish in 2012 rather than 2011.”

Following the commissioning of the turbine and acceptance by National Grid, the turbine will become the third in operation in Portsmouth, and the fourth on Aquidneck Island. In Portsmouth, a turbine is located at Portsmouth High School and another stands erected at Portsmouth Abbey.

The Hodges Badge turbine will measure 98 feet tall and has three 49-foot blades. Able to generate power at a wind speed of just nine miles per hour, the turbine is expected to cover the electrical needs of Hodges’ entire manufacturing operation.

The turbine project received grant funding from both the Rhode Island Renewable Energy Fund and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, administered by the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources.

Construction is being managed by the John Milnes Co. of Middletown.