ExPlace Wind Turbine
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The ExPlace Wind Turbine is a Template:Cvt tall wind turbine located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on the grounds of the Exhibition Place (a.k.a. ExPlace). The turbine is co-owned by WindShare, a for-profit co-operative; and Rankin Integrated Energy (part of Rankin Construction), a construction company specializing in renewable projects.<ref name= "to transfer">Template:Cite press release</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It is the first wind turbine installed in a major North American urban city centre<ref name="Not Your">Template:Cite web</ref> and the first community-owned wind power project in Ontario.<ref name="The WT">Template:Cite web</ref>
History
In 1998, the Toronto Renewable Energy Co-operative (TREC) was incorporated. The next year, the TREC received a grant to study three potential sites for an urban wind turbine project in Toronto.<ref name= Making-History>Template:Cite web</ref> On June 30, 1999, the TREC formed an ad hoc partnership with Toronto Hydro to build wind turbines in Toronto.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In February 2002, the TREC officially launched the WindShare co-operative with the policy of asking members of the non-profit TREC to become members of the for-profit WindShare co-operative. WindShare itself was officially launched in February 2002 in Toronto. It was created by the non-profit Toronto Renewable Energy Co-operative (TREC) which was incorporated in 1998. TREC continues to exist as a separate non-profit entity.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
From December 16 to 18, 2002, WindShare's wind turbine was erected. It is the first wind turbine installed in a major North American urban city centre,.<ref name="Not Your" /> and the first community-owned wind power project in Ontario.<ref name="The WT" /> On January 23, 2003, the ExPlace turbine began generating electricity. In 2006, the Government of Ontario introduced a feed-in tariff. In 2009, as a part of the Green Energy Act, the feed-in tariff was revised by the Government of Ontario.
In the summer of 2012, the turbine was taken offline due to problems with the converter (the part of the turbine that converts the movement of its blades into electricity). The converter was replaced, and the turbine was brought back online in March 2013. In July 2014, however, the new converter had issues, resulting in the turbine being offline until October of the same year until the issues were resolved.<ref name="Crawley 2017">Template:Cite web</ref>
In March 2017, water damaged the wind turbine's ring generator during a storm, causing the wind turbine to stop operating. After five months, Toronto Hydro funded a specialist firm to begin the required repairs as well as other upgrades to the turbine with work originally expected to be completed by November of the same year.<ref name="Crawley 2017" /> However, the turbine did not become operational again until February 2019, over a year later.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
On November 4, 2022, Toronto Hydro Energy Services Inc. transferred its 55.1 percent share in the project to WindShare.<ref name= "to transfer" /> Upon completing the transfer, WindShare created a joint partnership with Rankin Integrated Energy (part of Rankin Construction).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Technical details
The turbine is Template:Convert tall and is a 600 kW direct drive Lagerwey Wind LW 52 wind turbine that weighs approximately Template:Convert.<ref name= specs>Template:Cite web</ref> The tower of the turbine is Template:Convert tall and the diameter of the rotor is Template:Convert. The turbine has three blades that are each Template:Convert long. The rotor's normal rotation speed is approximately 24.5 rpm.<ref name= specs /> The turbine is able to produce a power output of 500 kW in winds of Template:Convert. Construction of the turbine cost approximately CAD$1.8 million (including foundation, interconnect, and erection).
The turbine adds an average of Template:Cvt of electricity to the city's main power grid per year.<ref name= "FOB">Template:Cite web</ref>
See also
References
External links
- Toronto Renewable Energy Co-operative (TREC)
- WindShare
- Ontario Sustainable Energy Association
- Ontario Power Authority "Standard Offer Program" (SOP) for Wind Energy Projects
- Ontario Power Authority Feed-in Tariff program for renewable energy Template:Webarchive
Template:Public institutions and infrastructure in Toronto Template:Wind power