January 15, 2015
Scotland

Stow wind farm component ‘did not fall off’ turbine

Turbine components 'did not fall off' | BBC News | 15 January 2015 | www.bbc.co.uk

Investigations have shown a component found near a Scottish Borders wind farm did not fall from its turbines.

EDF Energy Renewables shut down its Longpark site near Stow this week after the discovery of the three-metre piece of fibreglass.

However, it has now emerged that the “spoiler” was being stored at ground level.

Maintenance work was being carried out and a number of them had been detached.

A company spokesman confirmed it “did not detach or fall from any of the turbines”.

‘Resume operations’

He added: “The component is a fibreglass spoiler which is normally attached to the turbine blades to improve their efficiency.

“They are not however integral to the turbines and the wind farm can operate normally without them.

“An inspection carried out at the wind farm with turbine manufacturer Senvion, has shown that all of the spoilers which were not removed as part of the maintenance work are still in place on the relevant turbines.”

The company said it was “unlikely” that the spoiler had been blown onto the road and said it would continue to investigate how it had got there.

“In the meantime the wind farm will resume normal operations,” the spokesman added.


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2015/01/15/stow-wind-farm-component-did-not-fall-off-turbine/