Turbine upgrade plan - It's full steam ahead for wind

Hobart Mercury
Friday 29/10/2010 Page: 3

NEW improved wind turbines will be installed on the Marine Board building next year.

The architect behind the installation of the turbines said they would be superior to the turbines that controversially failed in August Keith Drew, architect for Marine Board building owner Robert Rockefeller, said improvements to safety and productivity of the turbines would mean they would not be operational until the second week in January.

The new timeline would mean plans for installing turbines on Mr Rockefeller's ANZ building in Hobart's CBD Energy would be set back a few months after the Marine Board ones. Mr Drew said Mr Rockefeller was working with I Want Energy, the company that installed and supplied the turbines, to ensure the new ones are safe. In August, a braking mechanism on two turbines failed causing them to collapse and cause $100,000 damage.

After the incident Workplace Standards Tasmania ordered all the turbines to be switched off until it was satisfied they were safe. "Robert [Rockefeller] is just saying do whatever you have to do to make sure this type of thing can never happen again", Mr Drew said. I Want Energy has sought improvements on the turbines before having them manufactured and shipped to Tasmania. Mr Drew said. "When the turbines are reinstalled on the building they will be a new version of the turbine, they will look exactly the same but there will be some manufacturing improvements that will be implemented as well, as part of the review process", he said.

He said the new model was being tested in a wind tunnel this week. Once the tests are passed the turbines will be built and shipped to Tasmania, arriving in December. Mr Drew started working in 2009 to explore ways in which Mr Rockefeller's many Tasmanian properties could establish more sustainable energy options. "We explored the solar panel option and the wind power option and the wind power option won hands down in terms of feasible technology and financial payback", he said.

Mr Drew said despite some public concerns about safety after the incident in August the overwhelming response from the public about wind turbines in Hobart had been positive. The issue had not stopped Mr Rockefeller from exploring a wide range of energy efficiency options for his other Tasmanian buildings, Mr Drew said.