Ameren's High Prairie wind farm turbines idle after collapses

Most of the wind turbines at Ameren's High Prairie Wind Farm remain idle following the collapse of three turbines last year. 

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. — Most of the wind turbines at Ameren's High Prairie Wind Farm remain idle following the collapse of three turbines last year, attributed to extreme weather conditions.

David Meiners, Ameren's director of renewable operations, informed the Adair County Commission about ongoing maintenance and blade replacement efforts during a meeting on Monday.

"We had some turbines where the blades came off and the imbalance caused the turbines to fall," said Meiners.

Currently, just over a dozen turbines have been reactivated.

"We started up wind turbines that we know are unaffected that don’t have an issue with those blades, so we have about 15 wind turbines across the site running right now and we'll add to those," Meiners said.

Adair County Presiding Commissioner Mark Shahan discussed the meeting, stating, "We’ve been reaching out to Ameren to see what was going on for the plan for the wind farm. We heard several rumors and we’ve reached out to them to say you know you have a plan, so basically it’s a pretty broad plan right now. It’s not precise but they are going to replace turbine blades based from data from inspections."

The maintenance process is still in the inspection phase, with crews working to identify turbines needing new blades. Landowners will be notified if turbines on their property require repair.

Ameren plans to contract out road repairs after the project is completed and is also in discussions with Schuyler County commissioners regarding the upcoming blade replacement.