Sidebar 3: Doing the maintenance is important
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Fergus dairy farmer Keith Burns, featured in the March 2006 issue of Better Farming, had a used Lagerwey turbine installed on his farm by John Hogg in 2004 and says that it is working well. He heard about the problems Rob Krijnen has had with turbines. His advice: Don't try to do it on the cheap.
Waterloo-based Free Breeze Energy Systems Ltd. has been picking up a lot of Green Breeze's customers, says owner John Hogg. "We have the expertise; we have the manpower."
Hogg recommends that farmers find out how many installations a company has done and get references. Hogg says he will share the names of clients with the client's permission.
"There is a lot of good equipment out there. If it is not maintained, it will fall apart on you."
Free Breeze also installed an 80-kW Lagerwey turbine for Peter and Betty Delange, who operate an early wean swine unit near Burns.
Peter Delange says that, a year after installation, a blade blew off the turbine and landed 20 feet from the 100-foot high tower, making the local television news. The blades were replaced and he received compensation for downtime. The turbine is back producing electricity.
Is it worthwhile? He thinks the payback is longer than expected. The twice-a-year service fees are expensive, he notes. He thinks there's more money in a bigger turbine, but the initial investment is larger, too. BF