Wind Turbine Project at Maple Ridge in Lewis County, NY
A few years ago I had the great pleasure of working at the Maple Ridge Wind Turbine Project for some Wind Power Companies that have a Joint Venture operation.
I was employed by an area Crane company to work as a Safety Inspector monitoring the setup and operation of the crane as well as OSHA safety monitoring of the contractor’s employees while working on a site-wide blade modification and repair project.
Dawn at Maple Ridge Wind Farm
The Maple Ridge Wind Power Companies Project consists of 195 wind turbines on the Tug Hill Plateau of Lewis County, just west of Lowville, New York. Each of these wind turbines generate 1.65 MW of electrical power and consist of a 262 foot tall tubular steel tower; with a 269 foot diameter rotor; and a nacelle (turbine housing) which contains the generator, the transformer, and power train. The towers have a base diameter of approximately 15 feet and a top diameter of 8 feet.
The tower is topped by the nacelle, which is approximately 9 feet high and 25 feet long, and connects with the rotor hub. The rotor consists of three 134-foot long composite blades. With a rotor blade oriented in the 12 o’clock position, each turbine has a maximum height of approximately 400 feet.
Crane Setup
This blade modification project was engineered to create tiny little differences in the way the air turbulence around the blades was changed just enough to smooth out some vibration, thereby increasing efficiency.
Crane Extended Horizontal at Ground Level
Two workers would go into the basket at ground level with all of their tools and an electrical power supply. The blade would be rotated into position from ground controls and then locked in place by a worker inside the nacelle.
Going Up !
Crane Extended to Blade Tip
Crane Extended Side View
A combination of radio communications and hand signals kept the workers in constant contact with the crane operator and ground safety personnel.
About the Tug Hill Plateau:
Tug Hill is in many respects the ideal location for New York’s largest wind energy project. This site consists of approximately 12,000 acres of hilltop pasture and feed-crop land at an average elevation of 1600-1800 feet. Tug Hill is an ancient geologic formation that lies just downwind of the eastern shore of Lake Ontario, separated from the Adirondacks to the east by the Black River Valley. At a maximum elevation of 2000 feet above sea level, the Tug Hill plateau experiences strong lake-effect weather patterns and has long been known for its exceptional wind resource
From the Top
Maple Ridge
Workers Up
Turbine Information:
Modern wind turbine generators are robust, sophisticated high-tech machines designed to convert the power of the wind into electricity.
Main Components: The tower, the nacelle (machine house atop the tower), and the rotor
Height of Flat Rock Wind Turbine Towers: 260 feet
Rotor Blade Length: 130 feet
Rotor Blade Speed: 14 RPM (revolutions per minute)
One of the tasks for this project was to raise two workers up in a man basket to reach to tip of the blade, and then an area was sanded and special anti-vibration strips of airfoil plastic were attached with special adhesives. Each of the 565 blades were modified as well as other field service repairs during this project.
Detail of Strip
Note the man in the distance up on top of the neighboring nacelle.
Looking Down
Note that one of those heavy duty service trucks would easily fit inside one of the nacelles on top of the tower. All of the photographs from the ground were taken by me as well as several of the ones from up on top were taken by me. It was not my job to go up, but who could resist such a fabulous opportunity in life? Better than any amusement park ride and I am glad I did it.
How Electricity Leaves the Turbine, Bringing Us Wind Power for Homes:
Electricity from each 1.65 MW wind turbine generator is fed through numerous 34.5-kilovolt power underground cables that come together at the wind farm substation near Rector Road. These cables channel the electricity via a step-up transformer and dedicated ten-mile power line into the New York electricity grid at the 230-kilovolt Niagara Mohawk Adirondack line, feeding power to towns and cities across New York’s North Country and beyond. Sophisticated computer control systems run constantly to ensure that the machines are operating efficiently and safely.
Pollution Offset:
The American Wind Energy Association estimates that 1 MW of wind generation capacity is the equivalent of 1 square mile of new forest, in terms of offsetting or displacing carbon dioxide from conventional generating sources. This makes the Maple Ridge Wind Farm Project equal to approximately 321 square miles of forest CO2 displacement. The many Wind Power Companies in the North East are truly helping to bring us Wind Power for Homes.
When you consider that an average household power use in 24 hours is about 2 kilowatts, this wind farm is equivalent to powering 160,000 homes. I like to think of it in this way, every time those blades are turning around, we are that much less dependent upon foreign oil price gouging.
Power Distribution to the People:
To the large amount of people that protest the power distribution of these type projects, I say, suck it up. It is for the greater good. Power lines running through or near your property are just a fact of life. Get over it. We need every type of alternate energy that we are able to harness. Do your part.
Tags: Add new tag, Lewis county, lowville, maple ridge wind turbine project, tug hill plateau, turbine blade modifications, turbine blade repair, wind farm, wind power, wind power energy, wind power for homes, wind power generators, wind turbine
November 23rd, 2008 at 3:32 pm
Very well done. My brother has property on the Tug with 4 of the windmills, and this is the best coverage I have seen. It is an amazing project.
November 23rd, 2008 at 7:58 pm
thanks for the inside view of what i hope will become “business as usual” in our country’s energy sector. not a moment too soon!
November 24th, 2008 at 12:56 am
@DeerJohn
Thank you so much for your comment. You have the honor of being my first one to leave a comment on this new website. Comments are the life’s blood of bloggers. Without them we die. There is a good chance that I got to meet your brother that year that I worked there. I met a lot of the salt of the earth farmers and landowners in the Lowville area. As a ground safety man I didn’t have to work too hard. LOL
November 24th, 2008 at 12:59 am
@Jackie Sheeler
You are most welcome and I thank you for having taken the time to leave a comment. I’m with you, none too soon.
I forgot to mention in the article that all of the smaller images can be clicked on to see the larger version. I’m quite proud of some of that photography.
All the best to you.
December 20th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
We visited Maple Ridge Wind Farm during a trip north to see family that live in the area. We are now advocates for developing windfarms in coastal areas of Northwest FL. “Not in my backyar” attitudes have to give way to recognizing that this is the right thing to do. Thank you for your efforts to positively highlight wind power!
December 21st, 2008 at 8:44 am
Dear Floridian,
Thank You for such a welcome response!
Where we live we would not be able to use solar power but man do we have winds. Any form of alternate energy is fine with us. What ever we need to do to get out from under the clutches of the oil monster. There has been some awesome success in Europe and other parts of the world with offshore wind turbine systems. That seem like the perfect answer to everyone’s problems.
Stick with us as we will be having some more wind power articles coming up.
Cato
February 26th, 2009 at 8:18 pm
The installed cost of these per kilowatt is tremendous. It is bad for the poor and working poor. This is not reliable energy. Capacity factors are very low. There are a lot of problems with the blades. This technology really is not practical. I can’t believe we are wasting all the money on this. These ugly things can be seen for miles around. It seems the only people who back this is are cons of the rich or ripoff artists. 95% of the parts come from foreign lands. If we really wan tto help this country and the common people we need cheap reliable energy. Build nuclear and supplement with coal. This would all be american made. Use the energy to charge plug in hybrids like the GM volt. This will put people back to work not this “false hope” of wind power. Get real. I can’t believe we listen to people like Al Gore.
March 1st, 2009 at 7:48 am
@skeptical
I hear you. I just do not agree with anything at all that you say about this matter. Wind turbines are not ugly in my opinion. There is a certain majestic grace to them coupled with the fact that they are a start toward the future makes them very acceptable to me. I personally love to see them on a distant horizon, they represent all that is good in America to me. The installation and operation of the wind farm parks is very good for the economy as they provide some excellent tech jobs and are also good for the construction business. The local economy of Lewis county for instance was just about in the pits before the Maple Ridge Wind Farm project. Now it is a bustling place, making major improvements to health and education and the home property owners are not constantly hassled with new tax increases. That sounds like a win – win to me. I like to buy American when ever I have the choice, however most of this equipment being made in ‘foreign’ lands is strictly because places like Denmark have pioneered these systems and they are already in production. As I understand it the huge tubular tower sections for this job came from Vietnam. Seems like they might have an over abundance of ’scrap iron’ laying around throughout that country. Swords into plow shares…? This is definitely not a “false hope” as you claim. The proof is in the stats, see for yourself. They help to lessen our dependence on the foreign oil monsters, and as for nuclear and coal, well you are just totally wrong there. There is no “SAFE” way to 100% positively safely store the spent fuel and nuclear waste caused by accidents and even normal use. A tiny little bit of human exposure to nuclear waste is WAY TOO MUCH! There is no safe level of nuclear exposure to humans. As for coal, cough cough… Now I am not a fan of Al Gore (AT ALL) but that is a personal matter.
Thank you for your comment.
Cato
March 13th, 2009 at 9:25 am
Dear peoples !
There are pros and cons for all energy suppliers.The wind energy is good,
clean and free after been paid the cost of installations.The wind energy, if
is enough produced ,can easily used to charge the “american” hybrids too.The question remains how to store the energy for the “no wind” times .As long as wind acts is OK ! Other problems are with the turbine (59% Betz ) limited efficiency and due to the imense charge of the nacele , the state of the art wind turbines are size limited to 5MW or so for each tower.
We nemes-invent srl , already filed patents for new technologies wich allow
to increase the efficency of wind turbines up to 90% (instead of 50%), to
build turbines over 10MW and to store the energy with almost 100% efficency. Unfortunately great wind makers doesn’t like to hear about those
technolgies ,unles there are for free, including this one ,Vestas, but Suzlon, GE, and many others.Also made DOE, EPA and other gov. institutions.
nemes.invent@gmail.com
March 13th, 2009 at 9:38 am
@Nemesis,
It sounds like you might just be on to the better mousetrap idea and it may take a while to catch on, but if your patents are good and the product can be made competitively then it should be able to be sold to some of the big guys.
I really like the idea of a storage component that you say is in your design. That seems like an enormous improvement over existing systems but I can not even begin to imagine how that could be achieved. I know the year I worked at the Maple Ridge Wind Farm that I saw many times that the wind was too low to make power and some type of storage would be a huge improvement.
I also witnessed times that the winds were perfect and they were capable of making full power output and the regulators of the grid would not allow them to add any more to the system, so storage would be awesome.
I would love to know more about your proposals. Do you have a website that we could learn more from?
One thing about our website at waytogogreen.org is that we hold no allegiance or owe any debt to any producer of any type of energy or products of any kind. We would be happy to do a write up of your system and help with getting your word out.
Thanks for leaving a comment.
We wish all readers would leave comments as it helps us in determining where we take this Blog.
Cato
March 14th, 2009 at 9:18 pm
I enjoyed your post. I’m currently writing and researching a textbook for wind turbine repair technicians, which includes a safety chapter. When I Googled crane safety and wind turbines, your page came up. Good job documenting! It gave me a better idea of what goes on.
March 15th, 2009 at 1:27 am
I enjoyed that year so much. My background is in safety and believe me the workers and management at this particular project think Safety First and foremost all the time. We had very strict wind level limits as a guideline. I do not have my notes but as I recall there was a low level sustained wind level and also an occasional wind burst level that when either were exceeded the technicians came down.
There were many days that we could not work at all. That meant staying in the motel eating snacks, watching TV & using the Internet all day, darn it.
Thank you for the nice comment.
Cato
March 22nd, 2009 at 12:25 am
From a long term, recently retired, well traveled Vestas employee I complement you Cato on your post, your commitment to safety and the overall pictorial coverage of events as they happen at any given wind farm.
In my capacity as the Site Facilities Coordinator for Vestas I not only visited the Maple Ridge Wind Farm (twice) but was also privileged to negotiate available facilities throughout Canada, West to East and in the US West to East.
Vestas…..the number one wind turbine manufacturer, in sales, its commitment to its employees, its commitment to safety and regarded by those in this industry as their ultimate benchmark. Vestas has windfarms in 64 different countries, factories in Europe, the Far East and recently new factories in the US.
The personal side of working for Vestas is reflected in the faces of the people of the communities where the wind farms are placed. Generally, these communities are going through tough economic times; unemployment, school funding etc. Vestas has a history of hiring and training locals, funding local events and most importantly through taxation providing relief to the cities and the taxpayers regarding school funding.
Keep up the good work Cato, Your article and comments are refreshing.
March 22nd, 2009 at 3:31 am
@digger,
My how nice to hear from a Vestas person. I was very impressed with your company and their concern for their employees, both in safety and benefits. This is a very large scale operation and they have the ability to bring in experts from all over the world on a seeming moments notice.
The Maple Ridge site has plenty of well trained local technicians, and what I was also impressed with is that when on break or at lunch with these workers, the talk was always about their job and their future and never did I hear any of the usual grumbling about the crappy boss that one normally hears around the water cooler.
The scope of this project was very large in that all of the turbines had to be modified in one season so new crews were pulled in from other sites all over the world.
Vestas is a first rate company and I know for a fact that the local community really appreciates having them as good neighbors.
Thanks a million for the very nice comment.
Cato
May 25th, 2009 at 5:54 am
I have been reading many articles about people whose say their lives have been severely damaged in many ways by living near wind turbines. They say their health, their peace of mind and their property values have been dramaticallly reduced.
Do you live close to a wind turbine farm? Is so how are you and your family doing with that? If not, how can you judge how much of a problem it is for those people?
May 25th, 2009 at 6:09 am
Dear curious,
You are right in asking such a question if you sincerely believe that there is a problem such as this. There is likely a good chance that the persons that are starting such rumors are most likely opponents of alternate energy, or that might have a financial interest in competitive products, in my opinion. I live within about 8 miles of a major Central New York wind power project, not the Maple Ridge project in this article but one of the next largest. I have never heard any such claims in my neighborhood, and have never seen such claims in local newspapers. I did work at Maple Ridge during the operations period as most of the over 100 turbines were working for nearly a year, and I personally met a great many local residents and land owners that the turbines were on, and without exception every single one of them was extremely happy with the whole program. I did hear a slight grumbling from nearby neighbors that did not have turbines on their land, hence no income, but their complaints were only about the distribution of cash, nothing to do with health problems. I will go on record here and now that the claims that you say that you have been reading are absurd. Thanks for the comment. Cato
July 13th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
I’ve heard that there is a visitor center there somewhere. Is this accurate? If so where? Open hours, etc.? We have some turbines near but am still interested in more info.
July 13th, 2009 at 1:47 pm
When I worked there a few years ago there was not a specific visitors center but they did encourage visitors, and they might have such a thing by now. Look up the phone number for Maple Ridge or the Vestas office there and ask them is what I would recommend. It really is an interesting project and you can drive all around through many public access roads to see a majority of the turbines, however there are many private drives down in to non-access areas and they will have locked gates. Have fun.