September 11, 2015
Finland

Two 14-year-old wind turbines to be junked

YLE | 11.9.2015 | yle.fi

The two wind turbines operating in Uusikaupunki will be dismantled next week, energy company Propel Voima announced on Friday. The windmills produced electricity from 1999, but repairing them is not worth the investment due to funding concerns.

The demolision of two wind power turbines in Hangonsaari, in Uusikaupunki is set to begin next week. The turbines will disappear within two weeks of the start of dismantling.

The two units, owned and operated by Propel Voima, have produced wind power since 1999. However, they have both been out of commission since December last year due to damages to their gearboxes. The company says that repairing the turbines would have amounted to costs so high that their electricity production could not have reached sustainable levels during the machines’ maximum time of operation.

Construction of the dismantling cranes has already begun. The spare parts from the two turbine units will be recycled and reused.

The two 1.3 MW wind turbines produced some 4 million KWh worth of electricity a year.

Funding favours new turbines over old

Turbines that have served for long periods of time are not granted the same government funding as new wind power projects, and neither is their output on a par with newer, larger generators.

Despite this, the upkeep costs for outdated turbines are as high as those for newer, more efficient ones.


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2015/09/11/two-14-year-old-wind-turbines-to-be-junked/