Topping off the turbine

Related Photos

Gloucester: The hub to which the three of the 160 foot blades will be attached on the ground at Varian/Applied Materials at the Blackburn Industrial Park. Once all three blades are on, they will lift it into place to the turbine at top of the tower. Desi Smith/Gloucester Daily Times. November 3,2012.
Desi Smith/Gloucester Daily Times photos Worker help guide the first of the three 160-foot blades to the hub on the ground Saturday afternoon at Varian/Applied Materials at the Blackburn Industrial Park. Desi Smith/Gloucester Daily Times photos
Gloucester: Workers help guide the first of the three 160 foot blades that will be attached to the hub on the ground at Varian/Applied Materials at the Blackburn Industrial Park. Once all three blades are on, they will lift it into place to the turbine at top of the tower. Desi Smith/Gloucester Daily Times. November 3,2012.
Gloucester: A worker talks with the crane operators as they begin to lift the first of the three 160-foot blades that will be attached to the hub on the ground at Varian/Applied Materials at the Blackburn Industrial Park. Once all three blades are on, they will lift it into place to the turbine at top of the tower. Desi Smith/Gloucester Daily Times. November 3,2012.
Workers were allowed to sign one of the first of the three 160-foot blades with a dry marker that will be attached to the hub on the ground Saturday afternoon at Varian/Applied Materials at the Blackburn Industrial Park. Once all three blades are on, workers will lift it into place to the turbine at top of the tower.
Desi Smith/Gloucester Daily Times Workers attach straps to the first of the three 160-foot blades that will be attached to the hub on the ground Saturday afternoon at Varian/Applied Materials at the Blackburn Industrial Park. Once all three blades are on, they will lift the hub into place at the top of the tower. Desi Smith/Gloucester Daily Times

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November 5, 2012

Topping off the turbine

Varian's turbine to be topped off today

By Steven Fletcher Staff Writer Gloucester Daily Times The Gloucester Daily Times Mon Nov 05, 2012, 11:08 PM EST

The last piece of the giant wind turbine being built at the Varian Semiconductors Division of Applied Materials is expected to go up this morning.

Starting at 7 a.m., crews from Baldwin Crane were poised to lift and attach the enormous rotor to the turbine, said Varian’s Director of Facilities, Richard Johnson. When finished, the 2.5 megawatt turbine will stand to a height of more than 460 feet. Varian’s turbine is the largest wind turbine in the Northeast.

”If all goes well, it will be installed by mid-morning, and from that point on, it’s all interconnection,” Johnson said.

After crews finish putting the turbine together, they’ll work to tie it into the power grid. Johnson expects they’ll have that work finished by Nov. 26 at the latest.

After crews finish the wiring, National Grid will inspect the turbine. And Johnson said he expects the wind turbine to start generating electricity by Dec. 1.

Varian expects it to provide roughly a third of the company’s overall power consumption.

Steven Fletcher may be contacted at 1-978-283-7000 x3455, or sfletcher@gloucestertimes.com. Follow him on Twitter at @stevengdt.