November 23, 2020
Sweden

Turbine down: wind giant Vestas probes V150 collapse in Sweden

Vestas probes V150 wind turbine collapse in Sweden | OEM starts inquiry after machine buckles in high winds at Wpd project | By Andrew Lee | Recharge | 23 November 2020 | www.rechargenews.com

Wind OEM Vestas has launched an investigation after one of its latest turbines collapsed over the weekend in Sweden.

The V150 4.2MW came down late on Saturday evening amid high winds at the Aldermyrberget wind farm in northern Sweden after apparently buckling near the base of the tower, said developer Wpd.

Nobody was hurt in the incident which was reported by a snow-clearance worker on the site at the time and no other turbines were damaged, Maria Roske, CEO of Wpd in Sweden told Recharge.

“Vestas will carry out an investigation and inform us when they know the root cause,” said Roske, who described the incident as “very unusual”.

The turbine is one of 17 turbines with 230-metre tip-heights at the project that’s currently in the last stages of completion by Vestas before being handed over to Wpd at the end of the year.

Vestas head of communications Anders Riis confirmed the basic facts of the incident and that an investigation has been launched, although he added that it is too early in the process to gather any conclusions.

“The most important thing is that nobody got hurt. We have now initiated our root cause analysis and started gathering information,” Riis told Recharge.

The collapse in Sweden is the third incident this year involving the V150, which has been a huge commercial success for Vestas as wind farms around the world install more powerful machines.

In September a blade fell from a V150 in Ohio in the US, in an incident Vestas said had been traced to a one-off production issue.

A blade fall from a V150 in Australia in October is still under investigation.

Renewable Energy in 2019 undertook a major investigation after a string of collapses affecting its wind turbines, concluding that a variety of factors rather than a single cause was at play.


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2020/11/23/vestas-probes-v150-wind-turbine-collapse-in-sweden/