Dismantled Pemberton wind turbine won’t be replaced; Hull Wind II remains offline 

The wind turbine at Pemberton Point taken down last month will not be replaced, and the seawall damage that occurred when the tower fell to the ground will be paid by the demolition company, town officials said this week.

Meanwhile, at the other end of town, Hull Wind II at the landfill remains offline, awaiting repairs to its computer system, according to Hull Municipal Light Board Chair Patrick Cannon.

“Once that work is completed, hopefully within the next couple of weeks, Hull Wind II should be back in service,” Cannon told The Hull Times, adding that there are no plans to replace Hull Wind I.

“It would be far too expensive compared to years ago [when the first one was built],” he said.

When both turbines were working to capacity, the electricity generated was equivalent to 11% of Hull Municipal Lighting Plant’s power portfolio. With the removal of the Pemberton turbine, the electricity for streetlights and traffic signals it previously generated now may have to be covered by the town’s budget.

Hull Wind I was commissioned in December 2001, and turbines of that vintage have a lifespan of about 20 years. Hull Wind II, which generates enough energy to power 800 homes on an annual basis when working at capacity, has been offline for some time for repairs, which have been completed except for the software issue.

Although Vestas, the company that installed Hull Wind II in 2006, opted out of its maintenance contract with the town some time ago when the agreement expired, another company was hired to perform the necessary maintenance on the remaining wind turbine.

Arrangements have been made for Vestas to reboot the computer, “because it’s their software,” according to Cannon.

While the subject of electricity rates came up at the light board’s February 29 meeting, no decisions have yet been made. There will be another related item on the March meeting agenda, Cannon said, at which time the recent rate study will also be discussed.

“We usually review the rates every three to five years,” he said.

Also at that meeting, the recommendation was made to send the bill for streetlight electricity to the town since Hull Wind I will not be replaced. When fully operational, Hull Wind I, which has been out of commission since April 2021, supplied enough electricity annually to power the town’s streetlights and traffic control signals as well as 220 homes.

“Moving forward, the town [would] pay this cost, which [would] be less money than it used to be because all the street lights are now LED,” Cannon said. “We’re doing the calculations now.”

Town Manager Jennifer Constable told The Hull Times in response to an email inquiry that she is “assessing the history associated with the town’s past agreement with the HMLP, as well as the town’s position going forward relative to this recommendation,” which was first introduced to her at last week’s meeting.

The town manager also said that the repairs resulting from damage to the seawall that occurred when Hull Wind I was demolished will be made at the expense of the company that dismantled the wind turbine.

“Kevin Mooney from Waterways Project Management assessed the damage on behalf of the town, and based on Kevin’s recommendations and discussion with the contractor, the repair was agreed upon,” Constable explained. “Atlantic Coast will perform the repairs in the next couple of weeks, and the work will be further evaluated by WPM.”