August 24, 2016
Nova Scotia

Enercon wind tower collapse a first — company

The Chronicle Herald | August 23, 2016 | thechronicleherald.ca

Company officials have launched an investigation into the collapse of a huge wind turbine at the Point Tupper wind farm near Port Hawkesbury.

The Wednesday collapse of the turbine, which stood 82 metres tall where the blades met the hub, occurred during a scheduled component change said Kevin Doucette, CFO for Lower Sackville-based Renewable Energy Services.

RES owns the turbine supplied by the German company Enercon.

“Enercon turbine suppliers were on site for a scheduled component change at the time,” he said.

“Nobody was hurt, and the site was secured.”

Renewable Energy Services is waiting for the results of Enercon’s investigation, he said.

“Until we see the results of the report, we don’t know what the

results are. We’re awaiting that to find out what the root cause is,” Doucette said.

The collapsed turbine has been disconnected from the grid, Doucette said. It is one of 11 turbines installed at the site in 2010.

The remaining 10 turbines were unaffected by the incident, he said.

A release issued by Enercon Canada said the company has installed close to 1,000 wind turbines in Canada within the last 15 years.

“This is the first time that such an event has occurred,” the release said.

“This incident did not occur during regular operations and is undoubtedly an isolated one.”

During a scheduled component exchange, an incident triggered the Enercon evacuation protocol, the release said.

“The technician on site diligently followed such protocol, and safely evacuated the turbine and the surroundings in time to avoid any injuries prior to the turbine’s collapse. Only property damage has been reported.”

More and more wind turbines are popping up around Nova Scotia, where the provincial government has mandated that 40 per cent of the energy used here be from renewable sources by the year 2020.


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2016/08/24/enercon-wind-tower-collapse-a-first-company/