May 16, 2014
England

Council blew cash on wind turbines that don’t work

Milton Keynes Citizen | 15 May 2014 | www.miltonkeynes.co.uk

Three costly wind turbines built in the grounds of a school are now to be dismantled – after allegedly generating just £3.67 worth of electricity in NINE years.

Milton Keynes Council paid £170,000 for the giant turbines at Oakgrove School at Middleton .

But shortly after the school opened in 2005, the structures were switched off for health and safety reasons due to a manufacturing defect.

A source told the Citizen: “It all seems to be an extraordinary waste of money. None of it is the fault of the school itself – they’ve just been stuck with these huge things that have proved useless.”

The turbines were provided by a German company which has since gone into liquidation, leaving the council unable to get compensation.

But this week there was finally a sunny outcome to the sad saga. The council has negotiated with another contractor to remove the turbines for free and replace them with solar panels.

A council spokesman said: “These wind turbines were the subject of a nationwide recall and the school was advised by the Health and Safety Executive to turn them off and keep them switched off.”

He said the turbines would be removed during the summer holidays.

He added: “Obviously Oakgrove has very high eco-credentials so this is not an ideal solution but the removal is at nil cost to either the council or the school.”


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2014/05/16/council-blew-cash-on-wind-turbines-that-dont-work/