Big chunks of ‘wind turbine’ wash up on Merseyside shores

Credit: It follows a botched operation last month which led to sections of a wind turbine falling into the sea | By Alan Weston | Echo | 9 Nov 2021 | www.liverpoolecho.co.uk ~~

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Pieces from a giant offshore wind turbine are believed to have washed up on the Merseyside coast after an operation in the Irish Sea went disastrously wrong.

The objects have been reported on beaches in the New Brighton and Hightown areas, following the accident last month.

The three turbine blades, weighing 126 tonnes fell into the sea during a botched maintenance operation at the Ormonde offshore wind farm, six miles off the Barrow-in-Furness coast in October.

Although the majority of the parts and tools are now resting on the seabed, debris from one broken blade remained on the sea surface and has now been sighted at various north-west coastal locations.

Most of the debris are glass fibre fragments and parts of the blade. No injuries were reported after the incident.

New Brighton residents posted pictures of what looked like sections of the wind turbine on a number of community social media pages.

Chris Cureton, a marine mammal medic, said: “I don’t think the material is particularly hazardous as it’s glass fibre. Not sure of potential environmental impact but pretty sure this stuff doesn’t belong in the ecosystem.”

The Ormonde offshore wind farm is operated by the renewable energy company Vattenfall UK.

A Vattenfall spokesperson said: “An incident during planned maintenance at Ormonde offshore wind farm resulted in components falling into the sea. No-one was injured, but we alerted the relevant authorities immediately and we have launched a full investigation.

“In addition to determining what happened, our attention is focused on ensuring that any debris in the sea or washing up onshore is cleaned up as quickly as possible.

“We are asking anyone who spots any debris which has arrived on land to call our reporting line on 0333 4141 912. This will assist our clean-up teams to identify and remove it as soon as they can.”

Source: It follows a botched operation last month which led to sections of a wind turbine falling into the sea | By Alan Weston | Echo | 9 Nov 2021 | www.liverpoolecho.co.uk

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