February 9, 2016
Ireland

Lightning toasts Donegal turbine

Lightning strikes Irish turbine | 09/02/2016 | renews.biz

A “severe” lightning strike has destroyed a blade on an Enercon E-48 turbine at the 3.2MW Meenanilta 3 wind farm in Ireland’s north west.

Enercon and the project’s operators, the Limerick-based Windsource, have launched investigations into the incident which occurred at the Donegal site last weekend.

A source told reNEWS that a “severe lighting strike” was to blame with the 800kW turbine now out of commission until replacement rotor blades are delivered.

The Irish Wind Energy Association said it was aware of the incident.

“We are aware of the incident and are liaising with the wind farm operator to ascertain the cause of this very rare occurrence,” it said.

“There is a rigorous process in place to ensure that installation standards are strictly adhered to and incidents involving wind turbines are extremely rare.”

It added: “The wind industry takes health and safety matters very seriously and any incident is thoroughly investigated as a matter of general protocol.”

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2016/02/09/lightning-strikes-irish-turbine/