ExPlace Wind Turbine

The ExPlace Wind Turbine is a 91-metre (299 ft) tall wind turbine located on the grounds of the Exhibition Place co-owned by the WindShare for-profit co-operative and Toronto Hydro. It is the first wind turbine installed in a major North American urban city centre,[1] and the first community-owned wind power project in Ontario.[2] WindShare itself was officially launched in February 2002 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 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.[3]

ExPlace Wind Turbine
The Toronto WindShare ExPlace turbine viewed from Ontario PLace.
CountryCanada
LocationExhibition Place, Toronto
Coordinates43°37′49.5″N 79°25′29.3″W
StatusCommissioned
Construction beganDecember 16, 2002
Commission dateJanuary 23, 2003
Construction costCAD$1.8 million
Owner(s)
Wind farm
TypeOnshore
Hub height65 m (213 ft)
Rotor diameter52 m (171 ft)
Power generation
Units operational1
Make and modelLagerwey Wind LW 52
Annual net output1000 MWh
External links
Websitewindshare.ca
CommonsRelated media on Commons

History

In 1998, the Toronto Renewable Energy Co-operative (TREC) was incorporated. The next year in 1999, the TREC received a grant to study three potential sites for an urban wind turbine project in Toronto.[4] On June 30, 1999, the TREC formed an ad hoc partnership with Toronto Hydro to build wind turbines in Toronto.[5][6] 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.

From December 16 to 18, 2002, the WindShare's ExPlace wind turbine was erected. It is the first wind turbine installed in a major North American urban city centre,[7] and the first community-owned wind power project in Ontario.[8] On January 23, 2003, the ExPlace turbine began generating electricity. In 2006, the Government of Ontario introduced a feed-in tariff. 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 brought offline due to problems with the converter, the part of the turbine that converts the movement of the blades of the turbine into electricity. The converter was replaced and the turbine was brought back online in March 2013. Again in July 2014, the new converter had issues, causing the turbine to go offline until October of the same year while the issues were resolved.[9]

In March 2017, water damaged the wind turbine's ring generator during a storm, causing the wind turbine to stop operating. Toronto Hydro took until August 2017 to fund 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.[9] In February 2019, the turbine finally became operational again.[10]

Technical details

The turbine is 91-metre (299 ft) tall and is a 750 kW direct drive Lagerwey Wind LW 52 wind turbine that weighs approximately 121,000 kg (266,759 lb). The tower of the turbine is 65 m (213 ft) tall and the diameter of the rotor is 52 m (171 ft). The turbine has three blades that are each 25 m (82 ft) long. The rotor and reach a speed of approximately 24.5 rpm. The turbine is able to produce a power output in the range of 625 - 650 kilowatts at 12 m/s (871 electrical hp) in winds of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) to 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph). Construction of the turbine cost approximately CAD$1.8 million (including foundation, interconnect, and erection).

The wind turbine adds an average of 1000 MWh of electricity to the city's main power grid per year.[11]

See also

References
  1. "Canada's First Urban Wind Turbine - Not Your Average Windmill". Toronto Hydro. 2006-02-06. Archived from the original on 2008-03-30. Retrieved 2008-04-11.
  2. "Explace turbine information on the Windshare website". Archived from the original on 2012-01-03. Retrieved 2012-01-17.
  3. "About | TREC | Renewable Energy". www.trec.on.ca. Retrieved 2021-07-12.
  4. "website for Windshare – history page". Archived from the original on 2010-03-08. Retrieved 2010-03-03.
  5. Brian McAndrew (July 1, 1999). "Hydro backs waterfront windmill plan". Toronto Star.
  6. Karen Palmer (July 1, 1999). "Energy answer blowin' in the lakefront wind project". The Globe and Mail.
  7. "Canada's First Urban Wind Turbine - Not Your Average Windmill". Toronto Hydro. 2006-02-06. Archived from the original on 2008-03-30. Retrieved 2008-04-11.
  8. "Explace turbine information on the Windshare website". Archived from the original on 2012-01-03. Retrieved 2012-01-17.
  9. Crawley, Mike (October 11, 2017). "Exhibition Place wind turbine hasn't produced power since March". CBC News. Retrieved July 18, 2021.
  10. "Toronto's famous wind turbine is working again". www.blogto.com. Retrieved 2021-07-18.
  11. "Toronto Wind Energy Co-op Windmill". Bruce Centre for Energy Research and Information. Retrieved 2008-04-11.
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