August 5, 2022
Michigan

Wind turbine deconstructed, will be replaced with solar panels

By Nicole Long | WPBN / WGTU | Tuesday, August 2nd 2022 | upnorthlive.com

The old wind turbine off of M-72 West in Leelanau County has been fully decommissioned and removed.

Traverse City Light and Power bought the turbine for roughly $764,000 in 1996.

In 2014, the company sold the aging turbine to Heritage Sustainable Energy for just $1,100.

Since then, Heritage has been dealing with the same struggles TCLP faced when the company first handed it over.

“Currently- it’s just now since 2014- the unit is that much older, just to the point where it should be decommissioned,” said Tony Chartrand, an engineer with TCLP.

“They’re having issues, even more issues, finding spare parts now that they’ve used up some of their inventory that they had,” Chartrand said.

According to Heritage, it costs about $350,000 to deconstruct the turbine and replace it with ten acres of solar panels.

The nacelle, hub and rotor are being donated to Kalamazoo Valley Community College for its wind technician program and the tower with be reused at a later date.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2022/08/05/wind-turbine-deconstructed-will-be-replaced-with-solar-panels/