By MARK TODD - Staff Writer - mtodd@starbeacon.com
CONNEAUT — Two wind turbines recently built in Conneaut will be spinning out electricity no later than the end of this month, according to a spokesman NexGen Energy, the Colorado company that built the generators.
Initially, the big machines were scheduled to start cranking out power at the end of January.
“We’ve gone through an extended commissioning,” Ted Rose, NexGen’s vice president for business development and public affairs, said Monday. “We’re working very closely with FirstEnergy.”
The 400 kW turbine at the city’s waste water treatment plant will start churning out electricity by the end of this week, Rose said. The larger, 600 KW turbine behind Conneaut Middle School will be on-line by the end of the month, he said.
NexGen acknowledged the start-up is taking “a little bit longer than we might have guessed.”
At issue are the final arrangements needed to make the machine mesh with the FirstEnergy system already in place. FirstEnergy has been a tremendous partner, Rose said.
“They’ve been great,” he said. “I’m glad we’re working with them. (FirstEnergy) has been very accommodating.”
Mark Durbin, FirstEnergy spokesman, said Monday the company wants to make sure the turbines are connected properly to the grid that services the region. FirstEnergy wants assurances when the grid is shut down —for an outage repair, for example — the turbines aren’t still generating electricity, putting technicians at risk.
“We’re not adverse to wind (energy) at all,” Durbin said. “It’s a safety issue.”
Eric Nesbitt, the Conneaut Port Authority member who helped bring NexGen to town, said the turbines’ inactivity has spawned rumors that a mechanical problem was detected with the machines. That’s not true, he said.
“I talked to NexGen, and there’s nothing wrong with either turbine,” Nesbitt said.
The treatment plant turbine is expected to generate 20 percent of the building’s power needs, officials have said. Its bigger brother will fulfill 60 percent of the school’s electricity demands.
The turbines were built at NexGen’s expense. In return, the city and school district — in separate contracts — agreed to buy wind-powered electricity for the next 10 years. A $9,500 good-faith payment made by the city and school board will be reimbursed via energy credits five years into the pact.
The entities are betting the rates charged by NexGen, which includes an annual 3.9 percent increase, will be lower than FirstEnergy’s costs.
