MADISON, N.Y. — Seven wind turbines, part of New York’s first commercial wind farm, were demolished in Madison County on Thursday afternoon. The turbines, which had stood for more than 20 years, were brought down in a controlled demolition that took only about 20 seconds.
Rachel Smith, Senior Project Manager at EDP Removals, explained the decision to dismantle the turbines.
“We had to evaluate whether it made sense to refurbish them and make them run longer or to take them down,” she said. “It turned out that these wind facilities were prototypes at the time and it was just really hard to find the parts to refurbish them, and so the most economical way was to take them down and to start a new project sometime in the future.”
Royce Cook noted the cost efficiency of the demolition method.
“It’s more cost efficient by blowing the bases and having them tip over versus bringing in a top-off crane and building roadways and cubage because it is heavy equipment,” he said.
Smith also detailed the meticulous planning involved to ensure safety during the demolition.
“There’s a little blast in the turbine and they will fall in the direction that they are currently positioned, and that was done strategic to reduce the amount of impact when they land,” she said.
The next phase involves determining the fate of the materials.
“We are able to divert the turbine blades to a waste energy facility in Niagara County, New York, so not too far from here,” Smith said. “The rest of it will likely end up in a landfill, but each individual piece will be evaluated to be reused or recycled.”
Once the debris is cleared, the land will be restored to its original agricultural use. “This project is separate from other plans we have going on in the area, so these will come down. They will be restored, the land will be restored and go back to agricultural land use, and this parcel will continue to do that as long as the time the owners own it,” Smith said.
The cleanup process from the demolition is expected to take several weeks.