00:19 - Welcome to the way

00:20 - ma our wind energy

00:21 - center in Wayne

00:22 - county Pennsylvania.

00:24 - Mary Wells

00:25 - I'm community outreach

00:27 - manager for fpl energy

00:28 - the company that owns

00:30 - and operates this wind farm.

00:33 - I'm very happy to

00:34 - have you here today on

00:35 - this gorgeous Autumn

00:36 - day we're going to.

00:38 - Take a look at what

00:39 - a windfarm is and we'll

00:41 - talk a little bit

00:42 - about how it got here

00:43 - and what we do here.

00:45 - This is Todd solid day

00:46 - the plant manager at

00:48 - the waymark wind farm.

00:50 - And he's sitting in front

00:51 - of his computer so system

00:53 - which is really a

00:54 - monitoring system for

00:56 - all the forty three

00:57 - turbans that we've seen

00:58 - on the site today.

01:00 - And from this location

01:01 - Todd and his technicians

01:03 - can tell

01:05 - what the condition is

01:06 - the operating condition is

01:08 - of every one of his turbans

01:10 - each one of those little symbols

01:11 - represents a turban.

01:16 - And this information is also

01:18 - monitored not only

01:19 - hear from our small

01:20 - onsite operations and

01:22 - maintenance building

01:23 - it's also monitored at our

01:25 - headquarters

01:26 - command post if you will

01:27 - in Florida

01:29 - where they are

01:29 - monitoring the activities

01:31 - twenty four hours a

01:31 - day seven days a week.

01:33 - Have this facility

01:34 - and our other

01:35 - forty six facilities

01:37 - around the country.

01:41 - What you're looking

01:42 - at here is the other end

01:45 - of our operations and

01:45 - maintenance building

01:46 - we were just in

01:46 - the computer room

01:47 - we've gone to the

01:48 - other end of the building

01:49 - where we store

01:50 - small spare parts large

01:52 - spare parts have to

01:53 - be shipped in we can't

01:55 - keep them on hand

01:56 - and of course you can see here

01:57 - some of the large

01:58 - tools that are used

02:00 - to do maintenance on some

02:01 - of this very large equipment.

02:08 - Over here Jackson.

02:10 - Is doing some testing

02:12 - perhaps repair.

02:14 - On a piece of equipment.

02:25 - These are g e machines

02:26 - that we've seen here

02:28 - general electric

02:29 - and Jackson currently

02:31 - works for general

02:32 - electric and it is they

02:33 - who for the first two

02:35 - years of the project's life.

02:37 - Do the major maintenance for US.

02:40 - Because visitors to

02:41 - our wind farms never

02:43 - have the opportunity

02:44 - to climb up a tower and

02:46 - actually look inside

02:47 - and see what's there.

02:49 - I

02:50 - showed people this this

02:51 - graphic that was made

02:53 - by the Scranton

02:53 - times graphic designer

02:55 - as a matter of fact

02:56 - and we use it with his

02:57 - permission.

02:58 - And this shows a cutaway

03:00 - the inside of the tower.

03:02 - And the inside of the cell.

03:04 - Which is the large

03:06 - structure on the very top

03:08 - of the wind turbine tower.

03:11 - And inside.

03:12 - And inside

03:13 - the cell

03:14 - are some very

03:15 - important things to US.

03:17 - The way

03:18 - a wind turbine it works

03:21 - is that the wind blows by

03:23 - blows against

03:24 - these large blades.

03:26 - Makes the blades go around.

03:28 - When the blades go around

03:30 - they turn a large

03:31 - shaft inside the a cell.

03:35 - The shaft.

03:37 - Goes through a gearbox.

03:39 - Where the shaft

03:40 - speed is speed it up.

03:42 - The shaft coming out

03:43 - the back of the gearbox

03:45 - spins a generator

03:47 - and it is in that generator

03:48 - that the electricity is made.

03:52 - You can also see here and

03:54 - you'll see it when we go out

03:56 - to a to the turbans.

03:58 - You'll see that we

03:59 - have each turban

04:00 - is an independent

04:02 - operating power plant.

04:04 - So each one of

04:05 - them needs to know

04:06 - what the wind speed

04:07 - and wind direction is

04:09 - right there where it's standing.

04:11 - So each one.

04:13 - Has a little weather

04:13 - station on top of it.

04:15 - That little weather

04:16 - station tells that turban.

04:19 - With the wind speed and

04:20 - wind direction is right there.

04:23 - And that helps US.

04:26 - Make sure

04:27 - that the blades are

04:28 - always facing into the wind.

04:31 - The weather station.

04:32 - Since

04:33 - it's weather information.

04:35 - Down to a computer in the

04:37 - bottom of the

04:37 - tower which will see.

04:40 - The computer then.

04:41 - Sends a signal

04:42 - back up to the top

04:44 - and tells this entire

04:46 - large structure

04:47 - up you gotta turn

04:48 - the wind direction has changed

04:51 - because we always want

04:51 - these blades

04:52 - facing into the wind

04:53 - that's how we make electricity.

04:57 - Now we've left the

04:58 - operations and maintenance

04:59 - building and we've

05:00 - driven a few minutes

05:01 - up onto the site

05:02 - where the winning

05:03 - turbans are located.

05:05 - In a minute we're

05:06 - going to go into one

05:07 - of the wind turbines

05:08 - before we do that.

05:09 - I wanted to just

05:10 - give you a little

05:11 - bit of information

05:12 - about fpl energy.

05:14 - Fpl energy.

05:15 - Is the larger as a generator of.

05:18 - Wind energy in the country.

05:20 - We have forty seven

05:21 - wind farms

05:23 - you can call them

05:24 - wind farms or wind

05:25 - facilities or wind

05:25 - energy centers it's all the

05:27 - same thing

05:28 - windfarms easier to say.

05:29 - We have forty seven wind farms

05:31 - across the country

05:32 - in fifteen states.

05:34 - We actually have five wind

05:35 - farms right here

05:36 - in Pennsylvania.

05:37 - The waymark facility

05:38 - where we're standing today

05:40 - is the largest of the

05:41 - five in Pennsylvania.

05:43 - Out in western

05:44 - Pennsylvania we have.

05:46 - Four others.

05:47 - Three and somerset county

05:49 - and one in neighboring

05:51 - fayette county.

05:54 - And we're going to

05:55 - go over in a minute and

05:56 - go into the turban

05:57 - but why don't we just

05:58 - turn and look at

05:59 - this wind turban

06:00 - and let me describe to you what

06:02 - you're seeing from the outside.

06:05 - Right now you're

06:06 - looking at the top of one

06:08 - of the forty three

06:09 - wind turbines here at

06:11 - the waymark wind energy center.

06:14 - You saw.

06:15 - Back in the office

06:16 - we looked at a graphic

06:18 - that showed then

06:19 - a cell in the cell is

06:21 - sitting on top of a tower

06:23 - that comes to US

06:24 - in three sections.

06:25 - The first section is

06:26 - bolted to the foundation.

06:29 - And then the other two

06:30 - sections are

06:31 - bolted on top of that.

06:33 - The large

06:34 - cell

06:34 - which we looked

06:35 - at in the graphic

06:36 - is then bolted on

06:37 - top of the tower.

06:39 - And the rotor

06:40 - which is the largest

06:41 - assembly of the three blades

06:43 - is constructed

06:44 - put together on the

06:45 - ground here at the

06:46 - base of the tower

06:48 - and then lifted by a huge crane

06:50 - and docked

06:51 - to the front of the cell

06:53 - and bolted on on.

06:54 - That entire

06:56 - construction process

06:57 - can take place in one day.

06:59 - Takes about a day

06:59 - to build a wind turbine

07:01 - as long as the wind's

07:01 - not blowing like it is today.

07:04 - We like the wind

07:05 - but only after we're

07:06 - already constructed

07:07 - and operating.

07:13 - And as I said we have forty

07:14 - three wind turbines here.

07:16 - That makes the

07:17 - waymark wind energy

07:18 - center the largest

07:19 - in Pennsylvania.

07:21 - This green box that you're

07:23 - looking at is called a pad mount

07:25 - transformer.

07:26 - Because

07:27 - it's sitting

07:28 - on a pad

07:29 - next to

07:30 - the

07:31 - in each wind turbine.

07:32 - Each wind turbine

07:33 - has one of these

07:35 - and what it does

07:36 - is increase the voltage of

07:38 - the electricity we're making.

07:40 - In the generator.

07:41 - The generator is

07:42 - generating electricity

07:44 - at five hundred and

07:45 - seventy five volts.

07:46 - It comes down electrical

07:48 - cables inside the tower.

07:50 - To this transformer

07:52 - where it's

07:53 - stepped up or boosted up

07:55 - to thirty four thousand

07:56 - five hundred volts

07:58 - and from here.

07:59 - It moves in an

08:00 - underground cable go.

08:02 - To a large collection cable

08:04 - that runs the entire

08:05 - length of the project.

08:07 - And

08:08 - that collection

08:09 - cable is collecting the

08:10 - electricity from each

08:11 - one of our forty three

08:13 - turbans

08:14 - and taking that

08:15 - electricity to a substation.

08:17 - The offsite substation.

08:20 - Steps up the electricity I guess

08:22 - again to sixty

08:22 - nine thousand volts

08:24 - and from there from that

08:26 - substation it goes out in p p ls

08:29 - transmission and

08:30 - distribution system

08:31 - to be used in homes and schools

08:33 - and businesses in this region.

08:36 - Foundation that we

08:37 - build the wind turbans on.

08:39 - Can vary

08:40 - depending upon what

08:42 - location and what the soil

08:44 - is like where the

08:45 - turbans being installed.

08:46 - Here because it's very rocky

08:48 - the foundations might

08:49 - be twenty five feet deep.

08:52 - But.

08:54 - Embedded in the

08:55 - cement of the foundation.

08:57 - Are.

08:57 - Are bolts.

08:59 - That are as long as

09:00 - the foundation is deep

09:01 - and they go all the way around.

09:04 - And when we begin constructing

09:06 - the wind turban.

09:07 - The first section of

09:08 - tower is lifted off of a truck.

09:11 - By a crane.

09:12 - And set down

09:13 - over those bolts.

09:15 - As a flange at the

09:16 - bottom as you can see

09:17 - with corresponding

09:18 - holes to fit exactly over

09:20 - those bolts.

09:24 - Then it has tightened on.

09:27 - With large nuts.

09:29 - And then a crane

09:30 - lifts the second section

09:32 - and bolts that on top.

09:35 - And the construction

09:36 - goes all the way up.

09:49 - Okay we're going to go

09:51 - into the winter but now

09:52 - when we get inside

09:53 - it's going to be noisier

09:55 - than it is out here

09:56 - so it'll be a little

09:57 - bit difficult to talk

09:59 - but what we're going to see

10:01 - Todd our plant

10:02 - manager is in there.

10:04 - And he's going to show US the

10:06 - computer system.

10:08 - That.

10:09 - Tells.

10:10 - The tells the wind generator

10:11 - this wind turbine generator

10:13 - or which direction

10:14 - it needs to face and

10:15 - tells it what the

10:16 - the wind speed is.

10:18 - There's a lot of

10:18 - information on this little

10:20 - computer system in

10:20 - the base of the tower

10:22 - and we're going to go in there.

10:37 - Earlier.

10:39 - Phone is

10:40 - inside.

10:43 - Tower.

10:44 - Elaborate.

10:46 - Real time information

10:48 - about.

10:56 - Real time information telling

10:57 - them exactly what

10:58 - is occurring in.

11:37 - Todd is showing US.

11:40 - How our technicians.

11:42 - Put on their safety

11:43 - climbing gear.

11:45 - Because these towers are

11:46 - too hot Android

11:47 - fourteen feet tall

11:49 - and we would never allow anyone

11:50 - to hide their feet

11:52 - off the ground

11:53 - without

11:54 - having a safety harness on.

11:56 - You can see how

11:56 - he's getting suited up

11:58 - it's it's sort of similar to

12:00 - a parachute harness.

12:03 - And as he buckles up I'll just

12:04 - describe to you what

12:06 - what what occurs.

12:08 - Inside the tower.

12:09 - There's a ladder that

12:11 - they use to climb all

12:14 - the way up that two

12:14 - hundred and fourteen feet.

12:15 - And running up

12:15 - beside the ladder.

12:17 - Is a.

12:18 - Is a cable

12:19 - or wire cable.

12:20 - And

12:21 - once he gets strap

12:22 - btw into this apparatus.

12:24 - He'll show you.

12:26 - The clasp.

12:27 - That he would clasp

12:28 - onto that wire cable.

12:34 - And his

12:34 - and his tie off lanyards.

12:50 - All of this is to

12:51 - keep our technicians

12:53 - safe when they're climbing.

12:55 - Now this

12:55 - this

12:56 - clasp that he has in his hand.

12:59 - Clasped onto the wire cable.

13:03 - Inside the tower.

13:05 - And as he climbs up the tower

13:08 - that class gently

13:09 - rides up with him.

13:11 - However

13:12 - if his feet or his

13:13 - hands were to slip.

13:16 - That class would very

13:17 - quickly grab hold of the cable

13:19 - and he it might slip oh

13:22 - about eighteen inches or less

13:25 - and then it would grab.

13:26 - And that would prevent him

13:28 - from falling and

13:28 - hurting himself.

13:30 - And additionally.

13:31 - Sometimes the

13:32 - technicians have to

13:33 - climb out on the very

13:35 - top of the nest well.

13:37 - And.

13:38 - The cable doesn't go out

13:40 - there so before he on hooks

13:42 - from his cable.

13:44 - He hooks onto a railing

13:46 - with that lanyard.

13:47 - So that they are

13:48 - never off the ground.

13:50 - Without being safely connected

13:52 - to the tower.

13:54 - Should they slip.

13:55 - They would not fall.

14:07 - Okay we've traveled a

14:08 - little further along the site

14:10 - and we've left the

14:11 - operating turban

14:12 - and now we're at

14:13 - a turban where our.

14:14 - Technicians are doing

14:16 - some maintenance.

14:18 - And you can still see

14:20 - in a minute that the.

14:22 - The tower is shut off.

14:24 - When they're doing

14:25 - maintenance they

14:25 - would shut it off

14:26 - right now

14:27 - they're raising.

14:29 - A bag.

14:30 - For tools.

14:34 - The climb up the tower

14:36 - takes a lot of energy

14:37 - and you sure don't

14:38 - want to be carrying

14:39 - heavy tools when you're

14:40 - making that climb so a bag of

14:42 - tools as hoisted

14:42 - up with a winch.

14:45 - No the bag that you see

14:47 - them lifting into the tower

14:49 - is empty and they're

14:50 - really just doing it

14:51 - to simulate how that

14:52 - would occur if they

14:54 - were doing.

14:54 - Maintenance requirement to

14:56 - have to be taken up to the top.

14:58 - All the land where we

15:00 - build our wind farms.

15:02 - Is leased from other people

15:04 - this land is owned

15:05 - by other families.

15:07 - And we.

15:09 - Have leases with them

15:10 - giving US permission to

15:11 - put our wind turbines here.

15:14 - We try to be as careful

15:15 - with the land as we can be

15:17 - and cut as few trees

15:18 - as and necessary

15:20 - but here in the wooded.

15:21 - East coast.

15:23 - It's tough to put

15:24 - up a wind turbine

15:25 - without having to

15:25 - remove some trees

15:27 - but we we think here it way

15:28 - more that we've

15:29 - done a particularly.

15:30 - Careful and sensitive job

15:32 - of preserving the trees

15:34 - and preserving this land

15:35 - for the for the landowners

15:37 - and the land is

15:38 - primarily used as.

15:40 - As hunting land.

15:42 - By hunting camps and families

15:43 - who use the land for hunting.

15:45 - And that continues and

15:47 - in the midwest and

15:48 - other parts of the country.

15:49 - The land

15:50 - where we build our wind

15:51 - farms is used for ranching or.

15:54 - Farming

15:55 - and that goes on unimpeded

15:57 - by having a wind farm there

15:59 - which try and work

15:59 - with the landowners

16:00 - so we put our wind

16:01 - turbans in locations

16:02 - that causes them the least

16:03 - interference with

16:04 - their farming practices.

16:06 - And at the end of the life

16:07 - span of a wind farm.

16:10 - What we do is

16:11 - bring in the big trucks

16:12 - and we would deconstruct

16:14 - the wind turbans

16:15 - put the pieces back

16:16 - on the trucks and take

16:17 - them away.

16:18 - At the end of twenty

16:19 - or twenty five years.

16:20 - If we want to continue

16:21 - we can if everybody

16:23 - involved wants to

16:24 - continue we can extend

16:25 - the contract to be here

16:27 - but if anybody wants

16:27 - out at the end of the

16:28 - contract we shake

16:29 - hands and that's the end

16:30 - of it.

16:31 - And as I said we

16:32 - would remove the.

16:33 - The wind

16:34 - machinery.

16:35 - We in many cases have

16:36 - agreements to remove

16:38 - the foundation to

16:39 - Adele depth of four feet

16:40 - and fill it in.

16:42 - And we would also

16:43 - remove the road at

16:44 - the landowner wanted

16:45 - it removed so that.

16:47 - At the end of the day.

16:48 - There is a little sign that we

16:50 - were here and there is unlike.

16:52 - Other sorts of power plants

16:54 - there would

16:55 - be no environmental cleanup.

16:58 - One of the important things

16:59 - for people to understand.

17:00 - About a wind

17:01 - energy center is that.

17:03 - First of all.

17:05 - Our only purpose

17:05 - is to make electricity.

17:07 - And we can make

17:08 - that electricity which

17:09 - is an ever greater

17:10 - demand in this country.

17:12 - We can make it.

17:13 - Without creating

17:14 - any air pollution.

17:16 - Or any water pollution

17:18 - and additionally we don't

17:20 - use any water resources

17:22 - to make electricity.

17:24 - We don't need to make steam.

17:26 - We don't use a lot of water as a

17:27 - conventional power plant would.

17:29 - So what you find is

17:30 - that we just rely on

17:32 - the wind as it blows

17:33 - by and it's a very very

17:34 - clean source

17:36 - of renewable energy

17:37 - and that's important

17:38 - for people to understand.

17:44 - Thank you

17:45 - for joining US

17:45 - today for our tour

17:47 - of the waymark

17:47 - wind energy center.

17:49 - Fpl energy enjoy very

17:51 - much having you here.

17:53 - We showed you our lovely site

17:55 - and we talked to you about how

17:57 - we make clean

17:57 - renewable electricity.

17:59 - Using the power of the wind end

18:01 - and I hope you

18:02 - learned a couple of things you

18:04 - didn't know before you got here

18:06 - and I hope you enjoyed

18:07 - your visit with US

18:08 - thanks again for coming we very

18:10 - much enjoyed having you here.