Suzlon reacts to blade exclusion

E-mail this story

Print this story

Share

When the Bureau County Board voted to exclude a certain type of wind turbine from consideration for seven Walnut Ridge sites, the company was understandably concerned.

On Nov. 10, the board voted to exclude the Suzlon S88, which was the brand of wind turbine blade that snapped off a wind turbine Oct. 22 at the AgriWind wind farm near Buda. At the meeting, board members were discussing a request from Walnut Ridge for seven additional turbines. The request included a list of possible brands of generators, including the Suzlon S88, but after a motion by board member Bill Bennett, the Suzlon S88 was excluded for consideration for those seven turbines. The exclusion on the S88s applied only to those seven turbines, and not to any existing or future turbines in the county.

The motion was approved on a 10-8 vote.

On Nov. 17, Suzlon issued a statement regarding the S88. According to the statement, the problem with the S88 near Buda was with the V2 version, which has since been replaced with the V3 version.

According to the statement, “Suzlon Wind Energy Corporation announces its latest generation S88 V3 wind turbine has been fully permitted for numerous proposed wind sites across central Illinois ... The V2 turbine which failed at AgriWind is an earlier turbine design that is no longer manufactured by Suzlon. The S88 V3, which includes a completely different type of blade, is installed in several countries around the world, including Australia, Europe and the U.S. and has a proven track record with nearly 200 of these models running safely and reliably.”

According to a Suzlon spokesperson, the company wants to make every effort to be sure the county board has all the information it needs about Suzlon products to make informed and accurate decisions in the future.

“The new S88 is a safe, reliable and quality machine,” the spokesperson said.

While Suzlon will accept whatever decision the developer makes, the spokesperson said the company would be pleased if the developer brought the question of using the S88 back to the county board for more consideration.

The spokesperson said the company is waiting for the new county board to be reorganized, and then will ask for the opportunity to give a presentation to the new board. Suzlon would like to allay any concerns board members might have, and to show the board members the company is here for the “long haul.”

“We believe we have a quality machine that fits the community’s needs,” the spokesperson said. “We want to let the board know we’re here whenever they might need us.”