Council Hears Wind Turbine Proposals

The Portsmouth Town Council took no votes Monday night on what to do with the town's broken wind turbine generator.

The Portsmouth Town Council heard a number of possible outcomes for the town's wind turbine generator, but did not vote during public and executive session on Monday night.  The town council is weighing possible options for its broken wind turbine generator, which has been stopped since last May.  Last July, the town council learned repairing the wind turbine next to Portsmouth High School could cost the town anywhere from $200,000 to $1.5 million.  On Monday night, Gary Crosby presented the following two options for discussion to the council.  The first option involves wind turbine repair and resuming operations, which includes the following:    The second options would involve selling the wind turbine to a developer, and could involve …

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Bill Carson

10:16 pm on Saturday, May 18, 2013

Many modern megawatt turbines manual is a proprietary document that gives general guidance Manufacturers have done site-specific review of Portsmouth and other cities and towns and found them to be an unacceptable location for the large turbines. Most manufacturers today requires that turbines be situated no closer than 2,500 to an off-site residence, hotel or motel, hospital, day care center, …   more ›

Broken Wind Turbine, Snow Removal Costs Top Council Agenda Tonight

The Portsmouth Town Council will discuss recommendations for the town's broken wind turbine generator, as well as the snow removal budget at tonight's meeting. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. at Town Hall.

PHOTOS: Taking a Tour of Portsmouth's Wind Turbine

On Thursday, Sept. 22, the Rhode Island Renewable Energy Siting Partnership (RESP) and University of Rhode Island led the community in a tour of the wind turbine built in 2009.

The Rhode Island Renewable Energy Siting Partnership (RESP) and University of Rhode Island are working on many projects at the moment that will help develop the need for renewable energy infrastructure in surrounding Rhode Island communities, officials said Thursday.  Teresa Crean, RESP Project Manager and Coastal Manager for URI CRC/RI Sea Grant, stated that they were "asked to use Rhode Island resources to bring real data to the table." Both organizations led a tour of the Portsmouth Wind Turbine Generator on Thursday. To see more from Thursday's tour, view the photos in the gallery above. 

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Bill Carson

9:02 pm on Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Dan, The turbine is "Rest in peace" as of June 15 ,2012.The town is planning to going into a private partnership which means a 2 Megawatt turbine or larger in your location. No where in the United States is a towns water supply located in the fall zone of a commercial wind turbine . The Town of Portsmouth water tank should be moved or move the turbine when you rebuild it. November 4, 2008 www.…   more ›

Portsmouth Wind Turbine Remains Stopped While Officials Wait for Batteries

The town's wind turbine has not spun since a January power outage. Officials hope to have it turning by early next week.

The Portsmouth wind turbine generator has not turned since a power outage occurred on Jan. 23 and now another winter storm might delay its production further. On Jan. 23, a power outage caused the Portsmouth wind turbine to stop spinning. Following the outage, sub-zero temperatures caused a delay for the batteries to recharge, according to town officials. When a power outage occurs, the turbine is automatically taken off the "grid" or electrical circuit as a safety precaution. The turbine's power is then run by batteries. However, this time, the town needs to replace 30 batteries to restart the turbine. The shipment of those batteries has been delayed by stormy weather, a common theme this winter. "Yes, we are still waiting for batteries…

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Mark D

4:49 pm on Monday, June 25, 2012

We haven't sunk any money into it yet in fact it has return money to the town in excess of $200,000. Lets cut our loses on stuff that doesn't add money to the bottom line.   more ›

Portsmouth Wind Turbine Stops Spinning Again

The town is waiting for a shipment of batteries in order to repair the town's wind turbine, which has not turned since Sunday.

On Sunday, a power outage caused the Portsmouth wind turbine to stop spinning. Patch was informed earlier this week that officials were waiting for the batteries to recharge before the wind turbine could begin turning again. The freezing cold temperatures caused a delay for the batteries to recharge, according town officials. The wait will now continue until early next week. Town Administrator Robert Driscoll told Portsmouth Patch on Thursday that workers are awaiting a shipment of batteries from Boston. They should be delivered by "Tuesday or Wednesday," Driscoll said. The 30 batteries will replace existing batteries in the turbine. These batteries are used as back-up in the event of a power outage or loss of electricity at the site, …

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Portsmouth's Wind Turbine Spins Again After More Than a Month Offline

The Portsmouth wind turbine generator is now spinning again after sitting at a standstill since Dec. 7.

After more than a month of  issues plaguing the Portsmouth wind turbine generator located at Portsmouth High School, the turbine's blades started to spin and produce electricity once again on Sunday afternoon. Workers from Lumus Construction were on-site and had replaced a module for the PLC or the "brains" of the wind turbine. Jeff Berry of Lumus Construction said, "We think it's all set now." Lumus Construction was hired by the town of Portsmouth to repair the turbine after AAER of Canada, the company that built the turbine, went bankrupt. Lumus Construction was on standby all week to repair the wind turbine once the part had arrived from Austria. The part's delivery was delayed by both blizzard conditions in Europe and the December …

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Turbine’s Technical Troubles Continue

The town's turbine will hopefully spin again by the end of this week, according to town officials.

While the town's wind turbine located at Portsmouth High School has been at a standstill for nearly a month now, town officials hope to have it spinning once again by the end of this week. According to Gary Crosby, assistant town planner, one piece of equipment that needed to be replaced was the "up tower duplicate control panel's LED screen." It was inoperable and could not be read. When technicians were working in the nacelle hundreds of feet in the air, they would have to climb down the tower to view the duplicate control panel at the base. "It was next to impossible to troubleshoot," said Crosby. On Dec. 7, the up tower control panel's LED screen was replaced and the turbine was ready to run again. On that day however, the turbine's …

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Wind Turbine Repairs Delayed Due to Winter Weather in Europe

Town officials are waiting for a part from Germany to make the town's wind turbine spin again.

Europe's winter weather is to blame for the delayed repair of the town's wind turbine, said Assistant Town Planner Gary Crosby on Tuesday. A large portion of Europe has been hit hard by a winter storm, which has caused airport cancellations and other traffic delays. The storm has also caused the delay of a package carrying a part for Portsmouth's wind turbine—a slip ring. "The last time the wind turbine was working was Dec. 6," Crosby said. "We are waiting for the part, which is coming from Germany. The part was supposed to leave Germany on Dec. 19th, but they had some weather."  The town has entered into a temporary, one-year contract with the Lumus Construction Co. of Newton, MA, which is handling the turbine's repairs. The town …

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