February 1, 2013
England

Toppled wind turbine’s ‘bolts are gone’

Western Morning News | January 31, 2013 | www.thisisdevon.co.uk

An investigation is under way to establish how a 111ft (34m) wind turbine came crashing down – as it was revealed its bolts had “gone”.

Questions are being asked if the wind was responsible for bringing down the turbine or other factors were to blame.

Residents of Bradworthy in Devon awoke on Sunday morning to find the £250,000 turbine, which was installed in 2010, collapsed on the ground at East Ash Farm.

Margaret Coles, chairwoman of Bradworthy District Council, yesterday said the turbine’s bolts had “gone”. She said: “We know the bolts have gone but don’t know what caused it.

“It was a windy night – we do suffer from lots of high winds – but you would have thought the structure could cope with that.”

Tom Tobler, a forecaster with MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said wind speeds in the early hours of Sunday were between 40mph and 50mph.

“It was windy but nothing you would expect to cause damage,” he said.

The turbine is an Endurance E-3120 which is relatively cheap and one of the first to be erected in England, said Bob Barfoot, North Devon chairman of the Campaign to Protect Rural England.

A spokesman for Wales-based firm Dulas previously said the generator had a five-year warranty, adding: “We can reassure the local community that, due to the isolated location of the turbine, no-one was put at risk and we are currently working hard to establish the precise cause of the incident.

“Our technical team is one of the most experienced in the UK.

“They are working alongside the turbine manufacturer to conduct a full root-cause analysis investigation.

“We will continue to keep communication open and provide updates as and when we have further information.”

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/02/01/toppled-wind-turbines-bolts-are-gone/