Fire at Wyoming project under investigation as neighbour voices fears over wildfire | By Andrew Lee | Recharge | 23 December 2020 | www.rechargenews.com
EAn investigation is underway after a GE turbine caught fire at a recently commissioned wind farm in the US state of Wyoming, leaving a local resident concerned for the safety of her home.
No one was injured as a result of the fire, which destroyed the nacelle of the turbine at the 225MW Roundhouse wind farm, operated by a subsidiary of NextEra Energy.
The project, which entered operation earlier this year, uses a mixture of GE 2.5MW and 2.3MW turbines, according to plans filed before construction.
A spokesperson for NextEra told Recharge that the blaze on Saturday was of short duration and swiftly extinguished.
A near neighbour of the wind farm was quoted in The Cheyenne Post as saying: “I am very concerned for my safety. Had this been a drier time of the year, there is nothing that would have prevented this from starting a grass fire and threatening my home.”
A fire suppression systems provider claimed in a article published in November that wildfires caused by turbine blazes are a growing risk for the US wind industry as it adds thousands of new turbines to its fleet annually.
Roundhouse was brought into service to supply renewable energy to local utility Platte River Power Authority.
GE Renewable Energy said it is referring all enquiries to NextEra.
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2020/12/23/im-concerned-for-my-safety-ge-wind-turbine-blaze-probe-underway-in-us/