PROVIDENCE - A company responsible for installing Portsmouth's much-celebrated new wind turbine owes subcontractors nearly $250,000, according to lawsuits filed in Superior Court.

The largest creditor is Hallamore, the heavy equipment operator, which in June filed suit, seeking $201,363.

HB Welding of Pawtucket also has filed to secure $38,296 it says it is owed.

Both companies say they have not received any money from the defendants, AAER Wind Energy of Canada, AAER USA, and Wind Smart LLC.

So far, their monetary claims are uncontested in court documents.

A third creditor, Specialty Diving Services Inc., filed suit in March to obtain $28,747.50 it said it was owed. The case was settled for the full amount in late April.

Specialty Diving handled the barge transport of several pieces of the Canadian-made 1.5 megawatt wind tower between Quonset Point and Newport. The massive components were too heavy to travel over any bridge approach to Portsmouth.

The windmill, 336-feet tall, began generating electricity for the town in mid-March. The assembly of the turbine has been featured on a National Geographic television special.

Lawyers for HB Welding have obtained a temporary restraining order prohibiting the Town of Portsmouth from paying Wind Smart any of the money it has held in reserve on the wind tower project.

That amount is between $25,000 and $34,000, Town Solicitor Donato André D'Andrea said Friday.

A hearing on the restraining order is scheduled for Aug. 27 before Superior Court Judge Michael Silverstein.

The restraining order, in effect, also bars the town from paying Wind Smart any money on an existing five-year maintenance contract for the windmill, according to D'Andrea. Meanwhile, Hallamore's lawyers also are seeking the money in the reserve fund, as well as payments on the five-year maintenance contract, valued at $142,363 in court documents.

Alexander Pichs, the project manager for the installation in Portsmouth, declined comment, referring all questions to Dave Gagnon, chief executive officer of AAER in Bromont, Quebec. Efforts to reach Gagnon were unsuccessful Friday.

Pichs said he was the original owner of Wind Smart, which was acquired by AAER USA, a subsidiary of AAER of Canada.

The parent company, meanwhile, announced on July 24 that it has signed a $2.6-million contract to build a wind tower for the Massachusetts Municipal Light Department Wind Energy Cooperative in Baldwinville, Mass.