Part ownership of a Ripple Wind Turbine, fancy it?

[AE-NMidlands]

Thanks for posting the graph Nowty, that puts it all in perspective.
From previous disappointing months it does show there is no guarantee the wind will arrive as in the past. I'm just pleased to celebrate it's arrival when it does and especially so in these darker months when pv generation heads in the opposite direction.
Thinking back to when Ripple first launched and lockdown took hold there were times when I wondered if GF would actually get built never mind offer a return. Here we are three years on and GF is up and running, KH is well on the way to completion, two further projects embarked upon and a possible further expansion plan into Europe.
My single brain cell could never have predicted that.

I'm loving it! It really should be a wake-up call for the anti brigade.
On the downside, I did read an article saying that some windfarm companies were struggling financially because of lower-than-expected wind where they had turbines because of climate change. I feel for them, having put money up front and done "the right thing," I hope it will come right for them before they face a financial crisis.

[Joeboy]

Hopefully just comms issue.

[AE-NMidlands]

Somewhere my home page said "no data" so yes, hopefully just comms. The Insights page says "Last updated: 15 November 2023 at 22:50"

[nowty]

Don't worry, there is very little wind, the large benchmarking wind farm next door is at 1% capacity. Would be a good time though to do a maintenance before the weekends blow.

EDIT - It should have been generating near 50% in the early hours though.

[nowty]

Somewhere my home page said "no data" so yes, hopefully just comms. The Insights page says "Last updated: 15 November 2023 at 22:50"

Hmmmmmmm, that turbine blade angle of 55 degrees at 22:50 sounds a bit ominous.

[nowty]

Update from Ripple, phew,

Graig Fatha comms from turbine
16/11/2023
We are aware that the dashboard isn't showing any data for today. This is because there is an issue with the comms from the turbine. The turbine is operating, but windspeeds are in any case very low today. The asset manager is investigating the issue with the relevant parties to get us back online. I'll provide an update in due course.

[Joeboy]

Update from Ripple, phew,

Graig Fatha comms from turbine
16/11/2023
We are aware that the dashboard isn't showing any data for today. This is because there is an issue with the comms from the turbine. The turbine is operating, but windspeeds are in any case very low today. The asset manager is investigating the issue with the relevant parties to get us back online. I'll provide an update in due course.

Data feed is up again.

[Joeboy]

This update.

17/11/2023
Delay to grid connection

As we mentioned in our last email on timings, there are lots of factors that can impact when a wind farm can be energised and connected to the grid. For this reason, our Projects Team have always treated the grid connection as a key area of risk and focus. We began engaging with the Distribution Network Operator, SP Energy Networks, before we acquired the rights to Kirk Hill on your behalf. Through weekly (often daily) engagement, we've been able to reduce and even eliminate certain risks.

However, over the last few weeks the grid connection works have faced a number of delays, in part due to a supply chain problem with a bit of highly specialised cable. SP Energy Networks and their contractors are also exceptionally busy connecting other wind and solar sites at present. This has limited their ability to accelerate the connection works to make up time. As a result, they now expect to be able to energise the site around the 22nd of March. This could potentially be brought forward by a few weeks, but it is very unlikely that the site will now be connected before the start of March.

Following energisation

Please be aware - the turbines won't start generating as soon as the site is energised. Our contractors first have to carry out tests on the internal wind farm cabling network, and then the network and turbines have to be energised in turn. Enercon will do some pre-commissioning of the turbines prior to energisation but certain commissioning works can only happen after the turbines are energised. This is likely to mean that the first turbines are commissioned and generating power a couple of weeks after energisation, probably in early April. The remaining turbines will gradually come online over the following few weeks. It is therefore highly unlikely that there will be bill savings from pre-April generation.

We realise that this delay to energisation will be disappointing. It is for us too. We wanted to let you know as soon as we had a clear picture of what the delay to the grid connection works would likely mean for Kirk Hill's overall timeline. Please rest assured that we have been taking every opportunity to get the site connected as early as possible and continue to do so. Interventions that Ripple, along with the Kirk Hill Coop Chair, have made at the most senior level at SP Energy Networks have already facilitated improvements. Unfortunately the transition to a zero carbon world is not straightforward. The whole industry is grappling with with long queues for connection, and network operators are still struggling with some post-pandemic supply chain disruption.

Rest assured, we are continuing to push hard to get all the connection works completed as soon as possible. We are grateful for your patience.

[Joeboy]

A nice extra.

'We're now approaching the end of the busiest period of works on site at Kirk Hill. We're delighted to say that Turbine 4 is now fully assembled. This means that we've got six out of eight turbines up, and the teams on the ground are already preparing the next lifts. Jamie is on site today and we'll bring you his latest video as soon as we can. At this point we'd like to give you a further update on your project timelines.'

O7/09/23 All gear onsite & T1 build started.

14/09/23 T1 up.(7 days)

15/09/23,crane moving to T2.

05/10/23 T2 up. (20 days)

06/10/23 crane moving to T3.

????? Crane breaks @ T3, back up crane brought in.

17/10/23 T7 up. (11 days)

?????? Crane repairs @ T3

25/10/23 T3 up. (8 days).

26/10/23 crane moving to T5

05/11/23 T5 up (10 days)

06/11/23 crane moving to T4

15/11/23 T4 up (9 days)

16/11/23 crane moving to T6?

17/11/23 T6 build ongoing?

KH diehard club guesstimates for completion of last KH WT build.
03.50hrs 15/12/23 joeboy
09.00hrs 15/12/23 AGT
18.00 hrs 20/12/23 Nowty
23.59 hrs 24/12/23 AD

It's a little sad that energisation has slid quite so far. On the upside, once Christmas & New Year is past its only a handful of weeks. Unlucky on the lost Jan to March gen though.

[Moxi]

There's still scope for it to come back to the left of the programme somewhat, the email is managing customer expectations so weighted towards the conservative estimate. As a newbie to this wind turbine game I am just stupidly pleased to be able to say I have a share of a wind farm and if it comes on in March great, if its on a bit earlier amazing, if it comes on in May let the good times roll!

Looking forward to the next video at site.

Moxi