By John Mariani, The Post-Standard
Two men look at the damage done to a windmill on Buyea Road in Fenner today, after it had toppled in the middle of the night. No one was injured, and nothing other than the windmill itself was damaged.
Fenner, NY -- Marvin DeKing already was up and awake between 3 and 4 a.m. when he heard a loud bang.
"It sounded like thunder and lightning," said DeKing, of 5206 Buyea Road in this rural town five miles northeast of Cazenovia. But it wasn't until daylight that DeKing learned what had caused the noise: The 187 ton windmill across the road from his house had fallen over and lay sprawled in the cornfield in which it had stood.
Here is a video of another one collapsing in Denmark.
The 200-foot-plus structure is one of 20 windmills that generate electricity at the Fenner Wind Farm operated by Enel North America.
Officials from Enel's headquarters in Massachusetts began arriving in Fenner around 3 p.m. to begin investigating the incident.
"I don't think we have any idea what happened at this point," company spokesman Hank Sennott said.
The company will conduct a thorough investigation into the "highly unusual occurrence," he said. He said he does not think there's any possibility sabotage caused the windmill to topple.
Sennott said he believes this is the only one of Enel's 260 turbines in the United States and Canada to fall. He estimated the replacement cost at $2 million to $3 million.
It's unlikely that high winds knocked over the windmill. Winds gust up to 31 mph were recorded at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in nearby Hamilton, about 17 miles away, but then died down, said Dave Nicosia, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Binghamton. By 3 a.m., the winds in Hamilton were 10 mph, with gusts up to 17 mph.
"The winds certainly are going to be stronger higher up. I don't know what it takes to knock one of them (windmills) down. Probably not 40 mph winds. That's not a terribly unusual wind," Nicosia said.
Fenner Supervisor Rusell Cary said he was informed about the collapse this morning by Steve Pike, Enel's project manager for the site.
Pike said when the tower fell it activated an alarm at a substation on Peterboro Road. Workers came to Buyea Road and discovered the windmill down.
By midday, officials had set up a wooden barricade at the foot of the gravel road that leads from Buyea Road to the disabled mill. Curiosity seekers drove past and some snapped photos of the downed tower and its now mangled vanes.
The 20 windmills in the Fenner wind farm were erected in 2001 atop a majestic hill. The project cost $34 million. At the time, it was the largest wind-energy facility in the Eastern United States. It no longer is the largest, but when all the blades are spinning, the farm's turbines provide enough electricity for 10,000 homes.
The windmills are the biggest landmarks, and a tourist attraction, in Fenner, a town with about 2,000 residents where farming remains the main occupation.
The toppled windmill stood 212 feet from the ground to the center hub, 329 feet to the tip of a blade at its full height. By comparison, the 23-story State Tower Building, the tallest in downtown Syracuse, is 315 feet high. The windmill's tower is made of steel and the blades of fiberglass.
Pike said Enel's other 19 windmills in Fenner shut down automatically after Turbine 18 fell. Enel's other windmill farms remain in operation today in Minnesota, Kansas, Texas and Newfoundland. Officials at those operations were made aware of the problem in Fenner, Sennott said.
"I wouldn't speculate on anything," Cary said when asked why he thought the windmill went down. "We don't know what the issue is. I'm just hoping we can learn from it."
Bob Stinson, a resident of South Road nearly two miles from Turbine 18, said it sounded like "a sonic boom" when the windmill toppled.
"I felt it. It shook the house. It woke me up," Stinson said.
Test
10,000 homes powered for $34,000,000 - Is that cost effective?
That's 3,400 per household, I wonder if that's per year?
In 2007, the average monthly residential electricity consumption was 936 kilowatthours (kWh).
[ http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/ask/electricity_faqs.asp ]
Economics of new nuclear power plants - Wikipedia, the free ...
Nuclear power plants typically have high capital costs for building the plant, .... Light calculated overnight capital cost from $2444 to $3582 per kW, ... In general, coal and nuclear plants have the same types of operating costs .
[Wikipedia]
Construction cost estimates for new coal-fired power plants are very uncertain and have ... have reached $3500 per kW,
This suggests that wind construction costs are completely comparable -- depending on the reliability of the wind in a particular location storage costs may be a key factor. However, for peak load applications wind can be very effective. This is particularly apparent when you consider that fueling disposal and environmental costs for coal and nuclear are huge as compared to wind.
How are you, I bumped into this web site by mistake when I was exploring on Google then I went on your site. I have to say your site is cool I love your theme! Right now I don’t have the free-time at the current moment to look through your website web sitebut I have bookmarked it. I will be back in a day or two. Thanks for a great site.
Only want to say your article is awesome. The clearness in your post is simply impressive and i can take for granted you are an expert on this subject. Well with your permission allow me to grab your rss feed to keep up to date with succeeding post. Thanks a million and please keep up the effective work.
I need an energy meter for my graduate school work. Does any have a opinion which brand I should choose?
There are three things you should consider when buying an energy meter. One is battery life, next is accuracy, and third is the brand.
I know this is really boring and you are skipping to the next comment, but I just wanted to throw you a big thanks - you cleared up some things for me!
I have a apple book. Everybody say that there are no viruses for apple and I was wondering if it makes sense to buy firewall software anyway? Are the Nortons of the world trying to build up fear?
Thanks for taking the time to discuss this, I feel strongly about it and love learning more on this topic. If possible, as you gain expertise, would you mind updating your blog with more information? It is extremely helpful for me.
My daughter purchased a brand new one for my house. But I am having some problems and I could use some help.
That will teach them to construct those wind turbines out of paper machet!
You didn't mention what voltage you are working with. For 120 VAC, 60 Hz, I highly recommend the P3 International, Kill A Watt, model P4400. It measures voltage, amperes, volt-amps, frequency, power factor, and also has a kilowatt-hour meter and clock. It costs about $35. I bought mine from www.supermediastore.com.
-twg