Falmouth Turbine Relocation Omits Maintenance Costs

Town Manager Letter September 13, 2019, Omits Gear Box & Blade Inspection For Article 14

Falmouth Town Meeting 11/12/19 7 PM

See link bottom of page:

The replacement of transmissions or what are called gearboxes and blades in these older turbines has become a cottage industry.

The blade inspection and gearbox inspection happens once the turbines are taken down by a specialized heavy-duty crane.

Falmouth officials, as well as the news media, continue to omit any bad news about wind turbine maintenance or the lifespan of the parts.

Falmouth has three V-82 types of 1.65-megawatt wind turbines all made by the same manufacturer. One private two are town-owned.

The manufacturer of the Falmouth wind turbines operates a business that states: "as your service partner, you get access to a one-stop-shop for spare parts and repair solutions."

So why is the town omitting future repair costs? The same reason they omitted the noise warning letter, emails, memos and maps prior to construction!

The Falmouth Select Board continues to ignore what happened Saturday, February 24, 2018, to the privately-owned wind turbine in Falmouth and many others including the 1.5-megawatt wind turbine at Otis Air Base and hundreds around New England that suffer gear failures.

The wind industry no longer produces the 1990s gearbox technology and has switched to direct drive like the automatic transmission in your automobile.

Saturday, February 24, 2018 neighbors of the privately-owned wind turbine noticed a massive crane taking the blades off the wind turbine to replace gears in the gearbox. The turbine is the same type and date wind turbine as those owned by the Town of Falmouth wind turbines that have been shut down by the Massachusetts Superior Court.

The cost of the crane for a minimum of three days $150,000.00 and $50,000.00 each additional day.

The cost of a new gearbox $650,000.00 half price for a rebuilt gearbox with a limited warranty.

Blades wear like ice skates reducing power production of the turbine up to 2 per cent per year.

Older blades are made of resin and fiberglass susceptible to cracking can be repaired on-site.

Replacement of blades has to done in sets of three as they are balanced costs around $3,000.000.00 for a set of three. 3 million for a set of 3

Falmouth Town Meeting Article 14 :

Article 14: Wind I & Wind II Turbine Relocation Initial Cost Estimate

http://www.falmouthmass.us/DocumentCenter/View/6771/Article-14-Wind-I--Wind-II-Turbine-Relocation-Initial-Cost-Estimate