December 2, 2014
Quebec

Senvion probes blade detachment

ReNews | 02/12/2-14 | renews.biz

Turbine manufacturer Senvion is investigating after a blade detached and fell to the ground at EDF EN Canada’s 80MW Saint Robert Bellarmin wind farm in Quebec.

The blade failure was detected on 22 November, EDF spokesperson Sandi Briner told reNews.

The wind farm consists of 40 MM92 2MW turbines that include substantial Quebec content. The 45-metre blades were manufactured by LM Wind Power at its Gaspé factory, towers were produced at the Marmen Matane plant and SEG Woodward contributed the electrical converters from New Richmond.

“All turbines on the site were shut down and the site perimeter was secured,” said Briner. “No injuries were sustained.”

The manufacturer is investigating and has yet to determine the exact cause of the accident, a Senvion official told reNews.

“That said, at the moment it looks like an individual, isolated issue and we have no reason to suspect that the entire population of one individual type of blade is at risk,” said Senvion.

“It is (Senvion’s) first blade issue in Canada where we have a footprint of over 800MW, which corresponds to a total of 1200 blades,” added the official.

The unaffected turbines at Saint Robert Bellarmin were systematically brought back online after rigorous inspections, said Briner.

The C$200m wind farm was commissioned in 2012 and has a 20-year power purchase agreement with provincial utility Hydro-Québec.

EDF holds a 20% stake in the project while Enbridge owns 50% and Fiera Axium Infrastructure and Desjardins own 30%.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2014/12/02/senvion-probes-blade-detachment/