National Wind Watch: Wind Energy News » Ferndale turbine to operate again

A wind turbine at Ferndale that was discovered to be leaning earlier this year is to be put back into operation.
Capstone Infrastructure, which owns the three-turbine development on the Bruce Peninsula confirmed on Tuesday that it has been able to successfully right the turbine and are working to bring it back into operation.
“The turbine has been re-levelled to its correct alignment, and the existing foundation is now being prepared for the installation of a new concrete collar to be installed at the base of the tower, which will be structurally anchored into the underlying bedrock,” it said in an e-mail from Amanda Dillon, Capstone’s manager of communications. “Once the necessary concrete curing time has passed and all quality assurance checks are met, the turbine will be placed back in to operation.”
The company hopes to finish the work this fall and then bring the turbine back into operation, the e-mail said.

In early April, it was discovered that the turbine was leaning after electronic communications with it were interrupted and members of a maintenance crew sent to assess the situation noticed it appeared to be leaning.
Engineers sent to the site determined it was leaning and tethers were attached to the turbine and then to bulldozers to stabilize the structure.
In June, Capstone installed an engineered support system made up of steel cables that were anchored into the bedrock at the site.
“This allowed for the safe entry into the turbine and the area around its base, which were necessary conditions in order to fully assess the extent of the damage and implement a long term fix,” it said in the e-mail from Dillon.
The company has said people and structures in the area are safe. The turbine is 115 metres high, while the closest structure is 400 metres away and the closest road is 900 metres from the turbine. Twenty-four hour security was placed at the site.
The leaning turbine was one of the first to achieve commercial operation in Ontario when it started producing power in November 2002. The two other turbines at the site came online in 2006.
Capstone has owned the development since 2013, when it acquired Renewable Energy Developers Inc.