People in Madison County still remember when the first towers went up on dairy farmland along Route 20. The sight of seven white turbines turning above the fields became an icon of New York's embrace of renewable energy. Families pulled over to watch and talk about the future. Twenty-five years later, those same residents watched the towers come down in a controlled demolition.
That demolition was more than a spectacle. It revealed a hidden challenge: what happens when early wind projects reach the end of their lives? As turbines built around 2000 retire, the industry faces a wave of decommissioning that few anticipated. Mundo-Power believes the answer is not to bury the past but to repurpose it, turning retired towers into new sources of clean electricity.
How Madison's Farm Made History
When Madison Wind Farm began operating in 2000, it marked a turning point. Energy planners and locals described it as the state's first commercial wind farm. It used seven wind turbine generators rated at 1.65 megawatts each and had enough capacity to supply electricity to about 10,000 homes. At a time when the entire U.S. wind sector generated just over six thousand gigawatt hours of electricity in a year, the eleven-megawatt project was a bold experiment. Visitors stopped along the road to take photographs, and the farm became a symbol of the state's emerging commitment to clean energy.
The farm occupied more than a hundred acres of agricultural land. It delivered power to the regional grid and sent millions of dollars to landowners and local governments through lease payments and tax-exempt agreements. These industrial wind turbines were also a public education tool. Local universities used the site to show students how wind power worked, and energy students from nearby campuses came to see a working wind turbine system in action. An associate professor of environmental studies noted that Central New York has strong wind resources and a clean mix of hydroelectric generation, making it a logical place to explore wind.
Madison's twenty-year lifespan shows how quickly the industry has matured. Today, the U.S. grid receives more than 450,000 gigawatt hours of wind energy each year. Technology has moved on from simple prototypes to multimegawatt machines, but the early pioneers deserve credit for showing that wind could work in the state.
What People Didn't Think About 25 Years Ago
When the towers were detonated in September 2025, the blades hit the ground in seconds. The real story lies beneath the soil. Traditional onshore industrial wind turbines sit on wide, heavy foundations. A typical poured-in-place base is about 60 feet in diameter and requires about 40 truckloads of concrete. That much material weighs almost two million pounds. It is heavily reinforced with steel, and it is rarely removed when a project ends. In 2000, few developers spoke publicly about how they would handle such foundations after two decades.
Several factors drove Madison's demolition. Project managers said the turbines were prototype models; the manufacturer stopped producing spare parts long ago, and refurbishing them would have cost more than dismantling them. Contractors explained that using explosives to cut the towers at the base was more affordable than bringing in cranes, building temporary roads, and mobilizing heavy equipment. Residents were invited to watch from a safe viewing area along the route.
From the outside, it was a tidy operation, but the economic and environmental costs were hidden. Buried concrete and steel remain in place, limiting the site's future use. Dismantling towers also leave communities with noise, dust, and traffic for weeks. Twenty-five years ago, most people believed wind turbines would run until they broke. The Madison story shows why end-of-life planning must be part of planning.
Mundo-Power's Practical Solution: Repurpose, Don't Remove
Our team at Mundo-Power sees retired towers not as trash, but as resources. We have developed and patented a practical system that lets owners reuse old wind towers instead of tearing them out. The process is straightforward:
First, the crew removes the old rotor and generator. At the same time, we fit a winch inside the tower.
Next, we lift a custom steel ring or a series of individual brackets up the tower using the winch.
Then we attach several small vertical-axis wind turbines to the ring or brackets to form a compact wind turbine system. Each unit acts as a wind power generator, producing 6.25 kilowatts. The number of units depends on the tower's height and the existing electrical capacity.
Finally, we connect the array to the existing grid tie. The site can produce new electricity without digging a new foundation, laying new cables, or bringing in heavy cranes.
Mundo-Power in Action
We use two connection methods—a perimeter steel ring or individual structural brackets. Choice depends on tower diameter, wall thickness, and condition. Both are raised by an internal winch and set in balanced tiers to support several 6.25 kW vertical-axis turbines while reusing the existing grid tie and foundation.
Ring-mounted retrofit on a retired tower. Multiple 6.25 kW turbines are spaced evenly around the ring; bracket mounts are also supported. Raised by an internal winch; no new foundation required.
See the Tower Retrofit Drawings ›
View ring and bracket details, plan views, and section callouts.
Our vertical-axis turbines spin around a vertical shaft. They capture wind from any direction. They operate at low rotational speeds and produce little noise, making them suitable for communities sensitive to sound. Their main parts are located near the base of the tower, making maintenance safer and easier. Because they are compact, multiple units fit on one tower; this modular design allows owners to tailor output to demand.
Our Mission for Renewable Wind Energy
This approach is not a theory. We have already installed our vertical turbines on telecommunication towers in northern regions to provide reliable, low-noise power to remote equipment. We have integrated them into portable power trailers used for disaster relief and events where grid connection is absent. In remote communities that rely on diesel, our turbines are part of hybrid systems that reduce fuel use and emissions. Each installation teaches us how to refine the design. Computational fluid dynamics studies guide our blade shapes. Improved generator designs increase efficiency. We continue to develop lighter, stronger materials to extend service life.
Mundo-Power's retrofit not only reduces waste but also reduces downtime. Projects do not need to wait for new foundations to be cured. Roads and grid connections are already in place. Communities continue to see economic benefits from lease payments and local hiring. Our experience shows that repurposing creates jobs for technicians and welders and provides long-term maintenance work.
A Bigger Challenge and a Bigger Opportunity
Madison's story is a microcosm of a larger issue. Energy analysts estimate that hundreds of gigawatts of onshore wind capacity worldwide will turn twenty years old in the next decade. Many of those turbines were built with lifespans like Madison's. When they retire, owners must decide whether to scrap them, replace them with larger machines, or look for creative solutions. At the same time, wind energy production has increased by orders of magnitude, and the world's climate policies rely on the rapid expansion of clean power.
Reusing existing towers offers several advantages:
- It reduces embodied carbon. Building a new foundation requires more concrete and steel than adding small turbines to an existing one.
- It preserves community trust. People who supported wind farms often did so because they believed in clean energy. Watching towers go to waste undermines that goodwill.
- It speeds up deployment. Using existing electrical infrastructure and roads cuts permitting and construction time.
- It aligns with circular economic principles. Materials stay in use rather than being buried or sent to landfills.
For companies committed to being carbon-free by 2030, these benefits are significant. Reuse also helps avoid regulatory hurdles associated with new construction and can provide faster returns on investment.
Energy for the Future. Energy Now: Mundo-Power Wind Turbine Generator
The demolition in Madison County was a poignant moment for a community that once celebrated the arrival of its turbines. It also highlighted a looming problem that other communities and businesses will soon face. By recognizing the value of existing structures, we can turn a decommissioning challenge into a clean energy opportunity. Mundo-Power invites sustainability leaders, project owners, and policymakers to consider second-life wind projects as part of their energy plans. Contact us to discuss site assessments, pilot projects, or to see how our growing fleet of installations is already proving that reuse works.