December 20, 2014
Kansas

Wind turbine collapse under investigation

By SCOTT AUST | Garden City Telegram | December 19, 2014 | www.gctelegram.com

It’s unclear what caused a wind turbine in Haskell County to collapse on Monday, but the owner of the Buffalo Dunes wind farm says an investigation is underway.

The company, Enel Green Power North America, issued a statement indicating the wind turbine failed on Monday morning and partially collapsed. The situation was contained, and there were no injuries.

“In keeping with our established guidelines, we are working to ensure safety at the affected turbine and determine the cause,” the statement read. “At this time there is no threat to residents around the project, but we ask that all keep a safe distance from the affected turbine so that our safety personnel may conduct assessments and take any required actions as safely and quickly as possible.”

Completed last December, Buffalo Dunes 250-megawatt wind farm includes 135 wind turbines spread over 40,000 acres of land in Finney, Haskell and Grant counties. The $400 million project also includes a 22-mile transmission line that connects the farm to an interconnection point with the high-voltage transmission system at an existing substation near Sunflower Electric Cooperative’s Holcomb power plant.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2014/12/20/wind-turbine-collapse-under-investigation/