Turbine blade shipment blows into Eastport

Turbine blade shipment blows into Eastport    Maine's Port of Eastport on Thursday received its first shipment of wind turbine blades.
   Most of the blades, which were manufactured in Brazil, are destined for the Rollins Wind project in the towns of Lincoln, Burlington, Lee, Winn and Mattawamkeag. Once complete, the wind project, which is being built by Boston-based First Wind, will comprise 40 General Electric 1.5 megawatt turbines. The wind farm will produce enough power for 23,000 homes, First Wind said.
   Local news reports said some blade loads offloaded at the Eastport docks will also be trucked to wind projects in Nova Scotia and Mansfield, Pa.
   According the Bangor Daily News, the shipment was a welcome sight for the Eastport Port Authority, which suffered the loss of its largest customer, Domtar Corp., when the company recently stopped operations at its nearby Baileyville pulp mill. The mill's closure also canceled the Pan Am Railways service from Baileyville to the Canadian border, the newspaper said.
   Christopher M. Gardner, executive director for the Eastport Port Authority, told the newspaper that he hopes the port will handle more wind turbine component shipments in the future. 'We think we are strategically well placed to handle many more such loads in the future,' Gardner told the Daily News.