After nine months of confusion, the blades of Bayonne’s wind turbine are back in motion.
It was repaired last week and now is in working order, said Bayonne Municipal Utilities Authority Executive Director, Tim Boyle.
The 260-foot turbine has been inactive since last June when unexplained vibrations were detected within the system. The turbine was then turned off remotely by Leitner-Poma, the company that monitors machine operations 24 hours a day, Boyle said.
The problem was determined to be a broken bearing. The bearing was rated to last for about 20 years, yet the part worked only for three years before the malfunction stalled the turbine.
“It’s a very unusual situation,” Boyle said. “The analogy that I’ve been using is that with automobiles there’s a lemon law. Unfortunately, when it comes to windmills, there’s no such thing as a lemon law.”
The Italian company affiliated with Leitner-Poma that built the turbine are currently looking into what went wrong.
“The broken part has been sent back to Europe for a forensic investigation,” Boyle said. “The company who sold it to us is almost as upset as we are. I have no reason not to be confident that Italy will do the right thing when it comes to a full-blown investigation when it comes to this part.”
He said that the report should be completed in five to six weeks. It should provide answers about what went wrong with the part and what responsibility the manufacturer will take financially.
“Once that report is in hand, it will be up to us to determine what the next step will be,” Boyle added. “We have a good working relationship with this company. Good working relationships tend to lead toward happy endings.”
But Boyle isn’t afraid to defend Bayonne if the company tries to shirk responsibility.
“If they take a hard line, we’ll give a hard response,” He said. “I’m not overly concerned about that at this point. It’s a wait-and-see game until we see where the company stands. I feel that the company will do the right thing.”
“Unfortunately, when it comes to windmills, there’s no such thing as a lemon law.” – Tim Boyle
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Unforeseen circumstances
The repair was set to take place without any road closures or disruptions for town residents. Those plans changed near the site at Fifth Street and Oak.
“There was a brief one that was unanticipated,” Boyle said. “They found a way to lower the blades to the ground on the Suez plant property without any road closures, but the crane sank down into soft soil. Traffic was only halted for about an hour before they managed to get the crane across the road.”
The final cost of repairs and losses is yet to be determined.
“Cost of repair was initially estimated at $350,000,” Boyle said. “After engineers took a long hard look at the situation they determined it would be $298 [thousand] because they could do the work in the field, but they encountered difficulties in the field. It will probably be around $400,000.”
Problems included time lost and unforeseen damages to the generator.
“The generator and the bearing are attached one to the other, and when the bearing failed it did slight damage. The metal had to be repaired. In fact, they had to bring an expert in from Minnesota with a special kind of laser for planing steel.” But Boyle said it was worth it. “It’s a $7 million wind turbine. If the repair is $400,000, you fix it.”
It’s harder to come up with a definite figure on how much Bayonne lost in savings from the turbine.
“To figure out exactly how much we lost we would have to calculate how the winds were moving every day, and that changes hourly,” Boyle said. “Any numbers that people are using are guesstimates.”
And if you’re wondering why the blades sometimes seem stalled even when the wind is blowing, Boyle said, “Sometimes what’s happening at the ground isn’t an indicator of what’s happening 300 feet up.”
He said that the turbine saves the city about $278,000 per year, and he is happy that the blades are spinning, and cutting energy costs for Bayonne again.
The big picture
Like most cities, Bayonne uses a ton of energy. The turbine helps feed this energy appetite with 1.5 megawatt-hours of electricity. Although insignificant compared to the total amount of energy a region consumes, it takes pressure off fossil fuel plants like the coal-burning Hudson Generating Plant in Jersey City, which produces 620 megawatt-hours, according to the EPA. The plant has seen a steady decline in carbon emissions for the last seven years, according to EPA reports, proof that we are needing less and less coal to supply our energy needs.
Bayonne’s investment in renewable energy is a part of a much larger trend. According to a recent U.N. report, the world invested $268 billion in renewable energy last year, doubling coal and gas spending. And for the first time, half of the world’s new electricity capacity came from renewables.
The first of its kind in the North Jersey-New York area, the Bayonne turbine was ahead of the curve. Many turbines now grace the skylines of the tri-state area. They’re an indication of our shifting energy needs. Luckily, Bayonne has been on board with that change. The city is registered with Sustainable Jersey, a 501c(3) nonprofit that supports community efforts to reduce waste and pursue sustainability programs.
Sustainable practices like riding the light rail and using bike shares can help Hudson County cities grow into models for green living.