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SYSTEM REVIEW
The operators of the
island system keep good and comprehensive records, and could see the trend
of increasing service demand and the impact that this would have on the
operating costs by 1993. Careful thought was given to the action to be
taken. An anemometer mast was installed, complete with a wind-logger,
on a hill to the east of the
existing site. Enquiries were made to several suppliers of wind turbine
plant, asking for proposals for the extension of the scheme to include some
three times the nominal 50 kW capacity of the existing wind turbine. It was
desirable, if possible, to include the refurbishment of the existing wind
turbine in the scheme, to avoid the creation of a new and possibly expensive
foundation on the original site. There was one other problem which had to be
taken into account. It was not economical to take a large mobile crane onto
the island, as this would involve a specially chartered ship and need
clement weather with suitable tides both inbound and outward. There was also
concern that the island roads would be unable to support the weight of even
a 25 ton crane, several corners would have to be widened and suitable access
roads laid to the selected sites. Thus the proposal had to cater for
self-erecting facilities which would have to be retained on the island. To
minimise civil works the longest component to be transported would not have
to exceed 10 m and the heaviest part or assembly to be moved on the island
would not have to be greater than 5 tons.
The author of this
paper was familiar with these
special problems, from his involvement in the earlier scheme, and he
contributed to the new plan which was selected and implemented. By the time
the necessary funding had been put in place, the author was no longer active
in wind energy, having moved to Reyrolle Ltd., the high voltage switchgear
company, then a part of the Rolls Royce Industrial Power Group. The National
Trust for Scotland persuaded Reyrolle Ltd to undertake the work, and the
author once more became involved in a challenging wind energy project. |
