WEST PUBNICO, N.S. — The owners of a West Pubnico wind turbine that was destroyed by fire this winter will be removing the structure and starting work to replace it in September, says Next Era Energy media spokesperson Steven Stengel.
“We expect to begin the process of taking down the damaged wind turbine in August,” he said.
“There are still some variables that could impact these dates but that is what we are planning.”
On March 15 a landowner contacted the company’s site manager about the fire at the Pubnico Point Wind Farm. The manager contacted the West Pubnico fire department to secure the site. Given the height involved, there wasn't much the West Pubnico Fire Department could do to fight the fire, which burned out within about two hours.
Anything that was burnable in the nacelle, the large bus-shaped structure at the top of the tower, along with the blades, was destroyed. The nacelle houses the generation equipment, gearbox, electronics, the unit’s transformer and other internals.
The performance of the wind turbines is monitored 24/7 from corporate headquarters.
There are 16 other wind turbines at the site.
This wasn't the first time there was an issue with a turbine in West Pubnico. Several years ago, a nearby resident noticed that a blade on one of the wind turbines had broken. NextEra Energy was informed and investigated the incident.
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