A COMPANY which told customers to switch off its wind turbines after faults were found, has announced major upgrades – free of charge.
Brighouse-based Evoco Energy has now said it will upgrade all 200 10kW turbines sold.
An investigation into the turbines was launched after several complaints from the Huddersfield area.
Some people reported that their turbines often failed and that blades broke off during high winds.
The company switched the turbines off in November and engineers have devised upgrades.
The company says it will change the synchro pitch, which monitors and adjusts the angle of the blades to control speed and rotation, and upgrade the monitor and control system which acts as an ‘early warning system’ to highlight potential problems.
The company says the upgrades, combined with research and development costs to date, will total £2m.
Managing director Ryan Gill said: “It is only when you have a sizeable fleet out there that you find out how a turbine reacts and behaves.
“The knowledge that we’ve gained with our fleet of 200 turbines over the past three years has been invaluable and has allowed us to make huge technological strides including our latest two upgrades.
“We feel it is only right that we repay the faith that customers put in us by upgrading the specification of their machines with the latest developments for free.”
The Evoco 10kW turbine sells for about £45,000 and comes in two sizes – 12m (39ft) or 15m (49ft).
The idea is that the turbines generate electricity, which is sold to the National Grid, and pay for themselves over a number of years.
However, there were a series of problems in the Cumberworth area last year.
Fiona Benson told the Examiner how blades on her turbine fell off several times.
Last January a turbine was damaged by gale force winds in Hepworth and a blade was thrown across the road.
Similar models at Far Mount Farm and Drake Hill Farm in Upper Cumberworth were also damaged.
Another customer, Terry Beaumont, of Far Mount Farm in Cumberworth, is suing for his money back because of repeated problems.
Evoco said it had invested all profits back into research and development for the past five years.
Managing director Ryan Gill added that the new monitoring system would take the average running time of the turbine to above 95%.
