July 2, 2013
California

Pattern to restart turbines

By IMPERIAL VALLEY PRESS STAFF | July 2, 2013 | www.ivpressonline.com

OCOTILLO – Pattern Energy’s Ocotillo Wind Express project will be brought back online one turbine at a time starting as early as Wednesday, according to Pattern.

The project was halted May 16 when it was discovered a blade from one turbine had fallen to the ground in the middle of the night.

The manufacturer of the blades, Siemens, conducted a lengthy investigation of the design process into the blades and the blades themselves, including all of the blades at the Ocotillo site, according to a press release.

The probe was finished as of June 25, and Siemens identified a problem with the way the blade was bonded to a “root” that fixes to the turbine.

Seven blades are to be replaced in Ocotillo, with the pieces set to arrive at the site by the end of July, according to a release.

Turbines cleared and found to have no faults will be brought online one by one earlier, the press release states.

Pattern officials warn that work might occur at night because of the extreme temperatures, with crews on site through the end of July.

“We remain committed to ensuring the health and safety of the public as well as the protection of the environment and will only be restarting turbines once the actions (repairs) described in this letter have been completed and the units are confirmed to be safe for continued operation,” according to a statement from the company.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/07/02/pattern-to-restart-turbines/