February 11, 2015
Illinois
Illinois
Wind turbine blade breaks
By Brian Boesen | KWQC 6 | Published: February 10, 2015 | kwqc.com
By Brian Boesen | KWQC 6 | Published: February 10, 2015 | kwqc.com
Driving down a county road in Henry County, Illinois, it’s not hard to spot the wind turbine with a broken blade. There are hundreds of turbines in the area but only one with two blades instead of three.
The service road to Invenergy’s Unit 106 is blocked off along 1700th St. south of 850th Ave. The turbine’s owner tells KWQC, the blade broke the morning of January 1st. No one was hurt and the cause of the blade failure is under investigation.
A statement from Invenergy’s spokesperson reads, “We are working with the turbine manufacturer to determine the cause of this incident. Blade replacement is scheduled for this spring.”
The property owner and neighbors didn’t want to be interviewed on camera about the turbine but one neighbor tells KWQC, they’re surprised about the break but not concerned.
Turbines dot the Henry County landscape. The large wind turbines are in fields away from homes and buildings. Henry County’s wind energy ordinance requires large turbines to be at least 1,000 feet from an occupied structure on a neighboring property, or 1.1 times the tower height from buildings on the same property.
The regulations are meant to keep people from getting someone hurt in accidents like this one.
A company spokesperson says, “As designed, the turbine automatically ceased operation.”
The turbine will remain off until the blade can be replaced.
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2015/02/11/wind-turbine-blade-breaks/