We Don't Need No Stinking Giant Fans

"We're not going to spend a lot of dollars into the research of what went wrong."

that pretty much sums up the wind industry...all they need or want is the taxpayer's subsidy...and the gov't will throw more money down the green hole by paying them to replace it...no questions asked...if they don't the media will scream that they're 'destroying wind power' that should never have been created to begin with.

What a colossal waste of money.

What a colossal waste of money.

I think the point of this was never to make any electricity, it was purely a case of robbing the government of some money. They keep telling us that windmills will work forever and we will get unlimited free electricity, this barely lasted 10 years. I grew up on a ranch in New Mexico and we had 75 year old windmills still working, for this do die this early is unbelievable.

-"it was purely a case of robbing the government of some money"-

The government doesn't have any money.
That's my money that's been robbed.

I noticed there was no comments section on the CBC web page, I guess they only do this for certain stories.

Joe America@ 9:28;
I think you are right on about the theft. I have a friend whose nephew works for the Canadian federal government. His job is to oversea projects. He is absolutely amazed at what contractors get away with. They ignore specifications and lie about what they put in the ground. Often when they are 'called' on their illegal behavior a directive from above tells him to move on.

It makes you wonder how much graft actually exists. He says sometimes it is outright ignorance by those who are supposed to enforce standards. Rather than fight to put things right it is simply easier to move on. Either that or they don't want to share their own lack of knowledge.

One of the best books I ever read was 'Booze in Western Canada'. That history from 1880 to 1939 sure open my eyes to the corruption in the Canadian political system. Money was paid to politicans all thru that time so why would it be any different today.

Paging Brad Wall.

The wind turbine committed suicide because of the shame of of being totally f***ing useless and a colossal waste of f***ing money.

We have to remember that wind turbines lose none of their value without their blades.

Keep the blades on, and win an X-box.

so much for 25 year life span...

I just hope they have solar back-up...land of the midnight sun, and all that...

"Blades weigh up to 1.5 tonnes and their tips are travelling at more than 180 mph," according to Turbine Blade Safety, Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound. "When they have broken off, they have planed up to 400 metres."

How old is that one over the Gardiner expressway and Lakeshore blvd.?

"Ontarians were not asked whether they wanted an icon in the sky, one-seventh the size of the CN Tower, just to stick it to the western premier."

http://www.canadafreepress.com/2003/main010603.htm

heh! I was up there this Feb. staring at that thing for a couple weeks.

The tower is about 1 km north of town, directly north of the new prison construction site. Not a massive tower. No one I'd asked knew anything at all about it. I'd just assumed it kept a large UPS charged up for some sort of communication or instrumentation equipment, perhaps a weather station.

Metal fatigue from heavy ice loading on the blades most likely. Also wondered if it was actually in service and under any loads or had a functioning speed governor. Recall seeing that thing spinning surprisingly fast on windy days.

"I grew up on a ranch in New Mexico and we had 75 year old windmills still working, for this do die this early is unbelievable.
Posted by: Joe America at June 21, 2012 9:28 AM"

But we are talking about Northern Canada here! Freeze thaw cycles can be a real pain on metal, carbon fibre, lubricant viscosity, etc. Bet you've never had to turn your equipment on in mid-Sept and not shut it off until mid-March for fear of the motor freezing up and having to tiger-torch the oil pan for hours just to turn the motor over? Things never thought about in the blazing sun!

"Materials that are there right now are not reclaimable," said

A Chop Shop & friendly Scrap dealer buys a lot of Crack.....not reclaimable! Right!

This info must be relayed to Ontario Premier Windy Dalton McGuinty, he's in the process of making Ontario the windmill capital of the world.

Amazing what happens when you take a complex machine, put it in a hostile environment and then ignore it for twelve years.

Preventative maintenance, baby.

I have an idea.. if the libs love the windmills so much... how's about we promise to heat all the new jails with nothing but windmills and solar panels... then everyone wins..

I visited a "wind farm" outside Palm Springs in the early nineties. Among the things I learned from the technician on sight is that windmills are susceptible to what they call a "runaway": in high winds, the blades can spin the turbine so quickly the thing will disintegrate. Thus, each turbine is equipped with a brake and blades that may be feathered so as to slow it down. The threat of disintegration meant that technicians would have to ascend these monsters during wind storms to repair brakes that had failed. I heard the story about the tech's last partner beaten to death inside a runaway turbine in a hurricane. This is known as a "green job".

I drove by a defunct wind farm on the southern tip of Hawaii a few years ago. It had failed to last twenty years. Oil was dripping from some of the nacelles, and many blades were broken or missing. The culprit was obviously not ice buildup.

The farm is being rebuilt, I understand, with new equipment. I wonder what improvements have been made.

"susceptible to what they call a "runaway": in high winds, the blades can spin the turbine so quickly the thing will disintegrate."

yup! That's what happened alright. They say it failed last week and historical weather data shows gusts to 80km/h on June 13th.

I'd seen that thing speed like crazy in 60km/h winds so at 80 it's no wonder blades went flying!

Mike McCormick
"We have to remember that wind turbines lose none of their value without their blades."

It could be argued that they are more valuable without their blades.

"The farm is being rebuilt, I understand, with new equipment. I wonder what improvements have been made.
Posted by: kakola at June 21, 2012 1:34 PM "
That's easy. They improved the way they steal money from the taxpayer. Oh. You meant the turbine? Easy also. Zero,nada,zilch,nil,none.

Scar: Yes it could. Perhaps they'd make a nice show and tell for the kiddies who'll pay the long term price for envirohysteria.

"How old is that one over the Gardiner expressway and Lakeshore blvd.?"

I've heard that that windmill no longer works either. Everytime I drive by it it's never spinning so I'd believe it. Besides, the company that built it is out of business.

Look at the subsidy cost on windmills and then tell me McGuinty is sane.

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/01/04/the-real-costs-of-alternative-energy/

I just can't let any windmill story go by without my favorite picture.

http://quixoteslaststand.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/untitled2.png

No big loss, it was probably fully taxpayer subsidized - easy come, easy go - probably put in an order for two this week.

Perhaps YOU do not need the stinking giant fans ... but I doubt if your primary electricity comes from diesel generators.

Rankin needs everything they can get.

"but I doubt if your primary electricity comes from diesel generators. "

yeah, that's a good point there. and with the consistent winds, unlimited space, and good bedrock for foundations. Other than material transport costs and keeping the things running reliably in the low -40's, I'd imagine still be a more practical application for them than down here.

I was in Kugluktuk 2 years ago on a cross-Arctic flying tour. Only 1 wind tower had been partially constructed and the other lay in pieces on the ground. The 1 partially-constructed tower was inoperable and looked likely to stay that way forever. I will be in Kugluktuk on the 6th annual Arctic tour and will report in late July on the state of global-warming-preventing wind power tower.

Another totally useless waste of tax-payers' money. No doubt the CEO of the company requesting multi-million dollar subsidies is off counting his/her winnings in some far-off exotic venue with the rest of the global-warming crowd.

"Rankin needs everything they can get."

May I suggest a SlowPoke?

http://www.ualberta.ca/~slowpoke/

If University can have nukes, why not Rankin?

I'll 2nd that.

Small scale nuclear like Canada's SLOWPOKE is the only viable energy solution for remote off-grid communities.

I lived in Rankin for 2 years (04-05) and I never saw those blades turn. I asked around but nobody seemed to know anything about it. Too bad because the wind always blows and diesel is darn expensive. Looks like somebody finally found the on/off switch.

"and I never saw those blades turn."

Was up there this Jan & Feb and it was in constant motion. Now, in retrospect I'd bet it was freewheeling. Was often spinning pretty quick, so much so I attempted to video it.

yup, I'd asked around also... it was a town mystery!