November 8, 2011
Spain

Alstom turbine crashes on Spanish highway

Michael McGovern, Windpower Monthly, www.windpowermonthly.com 8 November 2011

SPAIN: High winds and alleged lack of maintenance has caused a 35-metre high Alstom turbine to fall onto the roadside of the N-340 highway in Tarifa, Spain’s southernmost and windiest district.

Both Alstom and the local district authority have instigated separate investigations, according to local press reports. Alstom is unable to comment on the incident.

The fallen machine is believed to be one of two 600kW experimental turbines installed in 1996 by Spanish manufacturer Ecotècnia, which was acquired by Alstom in 2007.

As a wind hotspot, there are many such early experimental projects among hundreds of small turbines in Tarifa dating back to the early 1990s. Locals have long complained many machines are neglected as proper maintenance is not profitable.

Alstom is reportedly not discarding a theory that freak localised winds, possibly a tornado, to have caused the damage. The conclusions of its investigation are still pending.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/11/08/alstom-turbine-crashes-on-spanish-highway/