November 23, 2013
Vermont

Damaged Lowell wind turbine blade to be repaired

The Caldeonian Record | Nov. 22, 2013 | vtdigger.org

A wind turbine blade struck by lightning this summer on the Lowell ridgeline will be lowered to the ground for repairs early next week.

Next week, a 600-ton crane, like the one that raised the 21 turbines on the ridgeline last year, will arrive soon to allow Vestas engineers and technicians to make repairs and then put it back in place, according to a spokesman at Green Mountain Power.

The blade will remain on the ground over Thanksgiving holiday while the new finish is curing and then will be reinstalled on the tower.

The turbines have a lightning protection system in place.

“Without the lightning system, we likely would have had to replace this blade. Because the system functioned as it was designed to, the blade just needs a repair,” said Dorothy Schnure of GMP.

The turbines in the Kingdom Community Wind project came on line in November 2012.

[rest of article available at source]

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/11/23/damaged-lowell-wind-turbine-blade-to-be-repaired/