AMHERST - For the third time since it went online, the wind turbine at the RCMP detachment in West Amherst is on the fritz.
"We had another fire in the electrical panel and we've shut it down," Staff Sgt. Frank Kingston of the Cumberland RCMP said Friday. "It was the same panel in which we had a fire before. It was an electrical fire."
The cause of the fire is unknown.
The centerpiece of the new detachment when it opened in 2005, the 80-foot tall turbine was expected to save the RCMP about $13,000 annually in energy costs and reduce greenhouse gases by 150 tonnes of carbon dioxide.
Kingston said engineers were onsite last week to review the situation and he's awaiting their report. The turbine will not go back online the repairs are complete.
The turbine, which cost $225,000 to erect, broke down during a 2007 electrical storm and failed in 2008 after a fire in an electrical panel.
dcole@amherstdaily.com
RCMP turbine idle again
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Published on
February 15, 2010
- Published on February 24, 2010
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Darrell Cole
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Comments
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- JE
- - February 25, 2010 at 00:45:47
Bill, you're evidently not very well travelled my son. Southern California and Arizona arefull of wind farms. some places in the dessert, there are thousands. Ditto the North Sea.
The problem with the turbine at the RCMP detachment is that its a second rate product.
Thats just not so of all wind turbines.
The day is coming whe the marsh is full of them. Great 'wind resources' in our area and they can be placed far enough away from population to not be a nuisance. -
- Fuzzy Bear
- - February 25, 2010 at 00:45:43
There are two things required here to fix this problem.
1: Build a 50 ft. long treadmill with a large pulley and a belt going up to the impeller.
2: Build a Tim Hortons at the end of this belt.
Problem fixed! -
- Bill
- - February 25, 2010 at 00:45:32
In the long run we will find that wind power is much more expensive to run than the traditional forms of electrical generation. It's just an expensive fad.
