November 8, 2012
Africa

Arsonists attack Tunisia’s biggest wind farm

Jan Dodd, Windpower Monthly, 08 November 2012 | www.windpowermonthly.com

A series of arson attacks at a 190MW under construction in northern Tunisia has led to 75 wind turbines being taken offline.

The latest incident occurred on the night of 19-20 October, when so far unidentified intruders forced the door of one of the turbines open and set it alight. The project is located near Metline and Kchabta.

Three other similar attacks have taken place since the Tunisian revolution in the winter of 2010. The doors of all the turbines have now been soldered shut while the authorities try to find a solution.

Tunisian electricity and gas company STEG says it is losing around TND150,000 (EUR73,677) a day in lost electricity sales and the cost of substituted fossil fuel.

The facility is by far the largest in Tunisia. It is being built by Spanish turbine manufacturer MADE, a subsidiary of Gamesa, and funded by the Spanish government. The first 50MW was commissioned in April and the full 190MW should be completed by the end of the year.

[rest of article available at source]

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/11/08/arsonists-attack-tunisias-biggest-wind-farm/