July 17, 2013
Massachusetts

Scituate Wind: Turbine back online

By Nancy White | Wicked Local Scituate | Posted Jul 17, 2013 | www.wickedlocal.com

The Scituate wind turbine is back up and running – at least sporadically since last Thursday.

According to Sumul Shah, president of Lumus Construction, the operators of Scituate Wind, a major issue that had been plaguing the progress of repairs was resolved last Thursday.

“(The turbine) is now running and we expect it to stay running,” Shah said on Wednesday morning. The turbine continues to be monitored for problems, and will be shut down for maintenance when errors do occur.

“It’s running at full force now, but there’s still going to be minor problems,” Shah said, adding it would take additional time before the turbine is back to pre-lightning strike condition.

The turbine was struck by lightning on June 24 during a severe thunderstorm that rolled through Scituate. The turbine has been offline since that evening.

The repairs at the turbine have all been electrical, Shah said.

“We have not found any discolored or disfiguration from the lightning strike on the blades,” Shah said.

The damage resulted in more than $20,000 in lost revenue due to the lack of energy production for more than two weeks.

The town of Scituate leases the land where the turbine sits to Scituate Wind, LLC and has a contract to buy all the energy produced by the wind turbine at a discounted rate. The energy goes toward powering municipal buildings. The town has not lost any money while repairs have been underway, Town Administrator Patricia Vinchesi said at a recent selectmen’s meeting.

The Power Dash website, which records the energy production of Scituate Wind, shows energy production from the turbine on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/07/17/scituate-wind-turbine-back-online/