March 22, 2011
North Dakota

PSC investigating wind tower incident

KXMCTV Minot, www.kxnet.com 21 March 2011

Operations at a wind farm near Rugby were shut down last week after the blades on one of the

71 wind towers came crashing to the ground.

One neighbor told the Pierce County Tribune it sounded like a jet breaking the sound barrier when the central piece of the tower hit the ground.

The wind farm began operation just over a year ago north of Rugby.

As of this afternoon, most of the turbines on the wind farm were seen spinning in the North Dakota wind, so it appears operations have resumed.

It’s operated by Iberdola Renewables but calls to several people at the company were not returned today.

Iberdola notified the State Public Service Commission on Thursday, three days after the incident, and Commissioner Kevin Cramer says the PSC will discuss its next steps in the incident at its meeting this Thursday.

In the letter to the PSC, an Iberdola official said there had been no injuries or deaths in the incident and the wind farm site had been temporarily shut down while an investigation was going on.

Commissioner Brian Kalk said today the PSC is seeking more information from the company because, as he put it, if there was neglect that led to this, there will have to be some action taken.

The wind farm is capable of generating 149 megawatts of electricity.


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/03/22/psc-investigating-wind-tower-incident/