February 12, 2020
England

Massive wind turbine on coast stops working

Lowestoft's Gulliver wind turbine stops working | Andrew Papworth | East Anglian Daily Times | 12 February 2020 | www.eadt.co.uk

The Gulliver wind turbine at Lowestoft’s Ness Point has stopped working – with engineers saying they are doing all they can to get it turning again.

Stormy weather from Storm Ciara, which has brought winds of up to 70mph to the Suffolk coast, would have provided an ideal opportunity to harness the energy benefits of the 125m landmark.

The three-blade turbine at Ness Point, which was the largest onshore turbine in the UK when it was built 16 years ago, can provide 2.75MW of electricity – saving the equivalent of more than 6,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions each year.

But asked why the turbine at the UK’s most easterly point, next to Orbis Energy Centre, did not appear to be turning in the windy weather, owner Thrive Renewables said Gulliver had not turned for nearly two months.

A spokesman for Thrive Renewables said: “The recent storms have not affected our wind turbine at Ness Point in Lowestoft.

“It has not been turning since before Christmas, as we have been waiting for spare parts to arrive.

“We are working hard behind the scenes to get it back in action as soon as possible.”

Gulliver was built by Lowestoft-based SLP Engineering in 2004 before being bought by Triodos Renewables, which later became Thrive Renewables.

It was the first commercial wind turbine in Suffolk and was named Gulliver after a reader competition in the Lowestoft Journal.

Thrive Renewables says on its website that Gulliver’s location on the sea wall at Ness Point means it is in a position “making the most of winds whipping in off the North Sea”.

Thrive Renewables has two similar turbines at the Africa Alive! site in nearby Kessingland.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2020/02/12/massive-wind-turbine-on-coast-stops-working/