Northern Power Systems announced that 74 of its wind turbines, including three in the Caribbean, were in the path of Hurricane Sandy and were undamaged by the high winds. Following Irene, a Category 3 hurricane, Sandy was the second powerful Atlantic storm to hit Northern Power turbines within a year and all turbines that were impacted performed safely as expected.
“The losses experienced from Hurricane Sandy are a tragic reminder of how powerful nature can be,” said Troy Patton, Northern Power Systems President and CEO. “Many of our turbines, from the Caribbean to the eastern seaboard of the US, were directly in the path of Hurricane Sandy, but none were damaged by the high winds. At Northern Power Systems, we have the experience and commitment to continue to make products that are safe and reliable.”
As a testament to the design of Northern Power’s turbines, as soon as each turbine detected Sandy’s hurricane force winds, it automatically entered safe mode. Once conditions returned to normal, each turbine started generating electricity again.
“Having been in the wind business since 1974, we know the ultimate test of a wind turbine is not the design specification, but how well it stands up to extreme winds in real life,” said Jonathan Lynch, Chief Technology Officer at Northern Power Systems. “Although powerful storms such as Sandy occur infrequently in the Northeast, Northern Power turbines routinely experience hurricane force winds in Alaska and continue to operate at high availability.” For more information, visit www.northernpower.com.
