Groton Wind Farm

NoBozo · 10-20-2012, 12:41 PM

Our Town Owned 1.5 MW Turbine has been inactive since June 16 with a broken gearbox. The engineers report just came back yesterday. Lots of metal shavings in the oil. Gears and bearings chewed up.

The engineers are calling our turbine an orphan. It seems 3 out of the 5 of this turbine (AAER Canada..now defunct) installed in the U.S. has failed the gearbox at around 3 years. Ours is just over that. The warranty was for two years.

SO: AFTER we spend $800K to fix it, the report says.. AND... IF the new gearbox...same model as the last, lasts 10 years, with all routine expences and income considered....the turbine will run a deficit of ($400K) per year. We still owe $2.4M on the current loan.

I used to like this machine. Let the buyer beware. NB

10-20-2012, 12:41 PM	#9
NoBozo Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Portsmouth. RI Posts: 2,231 Thanks: 400 Thanked 460 Times in 308 Posts	The Engineers Report Our Town Owned 1.5 MW Turbine has been inactive since June 16 with a broken gearbox. The engineers report just came back yesterday. Lots of metal shavings in the oil. Gears and bearings chewed up. The engineers are calling our turbine an orphan. It seems 3 out of the 5 of this turbine (AAER Canada..now defunct) installed in the U.S. has failed the gearbox at around 3 years. Ours is just over that. The warranty was for two years. SO: AFTER we spend $800K to fix it, the report says.. AND... IF the new gearbox...same model as the last, lasts 10 years, with all routine expences and income considered....the turbine will run a deficit of ($400K) per year. We still owe $2.4M on the current loan. I used to like this machine. Let the buyer beware. NB