May 17, 2012
England

Disused turbines set to be removed

The Star | www.thestar.co.uk | 17 May 2012

They’re a well-known landmark on the approach to Sheffield…

But now fate’s cruel wind has ensured two redundant wind turbines on South Yorkshire’s Advanced Manufacturing Park have suffered the final blow.

The twin-bladed turbines, built to power Sheffield University’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre, were mothballed more than two years ago, after high winds blew the blades off one of them

The 40 metre high turbine towers, minus their blades, remained clearly visible from both the M1 motorway and the Parkway while wrangling continued over what had gone wrong and who was to blame.

That dispute was settled last year and yesterday work began on removing the generators and the towers.

By the weekend, all that will remain will be the concrete bases, which could, conceivably, be used for new turbines, although there are no plans for replacements at present.

The two turbines were originally erected after plans for a single, taller turbine were ruled out because it would have posed a risk to planes using the nearby Sheffield City Airport – even though flights to the airport had been stopped by that stage.

It is believed the blades fell off because the turbine controls failed to ‘park’ them in a stationary position in high winds.

The final demise of the airport means that taller wind turbines can now be built on the site, like the triple-bladed turbine that now powers the Nuclear AMRC, generating almost twice as much power as the twin turbines should have been capable of producing.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/05/17/disused-turbines-set-to-be-removed/