Into the Wind
As is the case for all Yukon Energy's equipment, repairing our wind turbines on Haeckel Hill takes special skills and knowledge. But along with the technical know-how comes the need to have steady nerves. Hanging in a metal basket 30 metres from the ground is not for the faint of heart.
Bill Haydock, Justin Kolla and Les Rowland are three of Yukon Energy's employees who are trained and comfortable working from heights. They recently went up to the top of the smaller of our two wind turbines, the Bonus A/G, to make some repairs. “No, heights don’t bother me in the slightest,” Les said. “In fact there have been times when I’ve gone up the Vestas (our larger wind turbine) in winter, crawled on top of the nacelle (the area that contains the generator) and slid down to the back end to replace instruments. My wife just shakes her head!”
Of course any employee doing this work must be equipped with all the necessary safety gear, including a harness known as a fall arrest system. And Bill is quick to point out that no employees are forced to do aerial work. “We give people the choice. We would never send them up if they’re afraid of heights.”
In the case of the Bonus turbine, the job involved two separate tasks. The external ladder that leads to the generator had become damaged as a result of a guy-wire rubbing against it in the wind. Bill and Les used a crane and metal basket to remove the ladder and slowly and carefully lower it to the ground. They were then able to better assess its damage, and determine if it could be repaired or if it needed to be replaced. They decided a new ladder was necessary and one has been ordered and will be installed shortly.
While they were busy doing that, Justin was in the nacelle replacing a damaged control wire. He says teamwork made the job straightforward. “It really wasn’t bad at all with the three of us working together. Les and Bill steadied the man-basket so I could crawl in and out of the nacelle.” Justin has some off-site help too. A phone call to Maintenance Electrician Nick Balderas helped troubleshoot and find the problem.
Thankfully it was a beautiful day and wind speeds stayed low throughout the morning as the crew did their work. They were down off the mountain by lunch time. Scary work for some of us perhaps, but for these three it was just another day on the job.
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