Wind Power News: Accidents
See also: Wind Turbine Accident data (worldwide) at Scotland Against Spin
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch in its noncommercial educational mission to help keep readers informed about developments related to industrial wind energy. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of National Wind Watch. They are the products of and owned by the organizations or individuals noted and are shared here according to “fair use” and “fair dealing” provisions of copyright law. The original articles, links to which are provided, may have additional links and photos and other media that were not included here.
Wind turbine blade falls in northern Japan, one man dies
A 40-meter-long blade has fallen off a wind turbine in the northern Japanese prefecture of Akita. A man was found collapsed near the site and later confirmed dead. Police say they received a report at around 10:30 a.m. on Friday that a blade had come off a turbine in a park in Akita City. The local police and fire department say an 81-year-old man was found unconscious with head injuries, and that he was later pronounced dead after being transported . . . Complete story »
How Spain’s success in renewable energy may have left it vulnerable
The Iberian Peninsula’s widespread blackout raises questions about the resilience of the electric power infrastructure in the two countries – and to an extent, the rest of Europe. Spain’s power company, Red Eléctrica, proudly declared on April 16 that enough renewable energy had been generated to cover demand. “The ecological transition is moving forward,” it said. Less than two weeks later, Spain and Portugal experienced an 18-hour blackout that disrupted daily life, shutting down businesses and schools and crippling trains and . . . Complete story »
Vessel in deadly sinking after wind turbine collision ‘failed to keep lookout’
A fishing vessel that sank after crashing into an offshore wind turbine – sending 10 crew members overboard, with one confirmed dead and one never recovered – had failed to keep a proper lookout, finds a report into the incident. The deadly incident occurred in August last year in the Yellow Sea, which is nestled between China and the Korean Peninsula. The vessel, 36 metres in length, was returning to port around midnight when it struck a wind turbine, according . . . Complete story »
Akita man dies after broken blade falls from wind turbine
An elderly man died on May 2 after being found collapsed on the ground near a broken blade from a wind turbine here, police said. Akita prefectural police are investigating whether the fallen blade caused the death of Takashi Shishido, 81, who lived in Akita city. The fire department was notified about Shishido’s condition at the Araya seaside park in Akita city’s Araya district at around 10:20 a.m. He was taken to a hospital with a head injury but was . . . Complete story »
Renewable energy in the dock in Spain after blackout
Fierce debate raged in Spain on Wednesday over the role its reliance on renewable energy may have had in this week’s blackout which disrupted millions of lives, though officials sought to downplay any potential link. “The lack of nuclear power stations and the ‘boom’ in renewables have brought the electricity grid to its knees,” conservative newspaper ABC headlined on its front page. Rival daily El Mundo wrote that “warnings about renewables over the last five years” had been “ignored”. Conservative . . . Complete story »
Iowa farmer sues company, alleging three wind-turbine fires damaged his crops
A Cedar County farmer is suing a manufacturer of wind turbines, alleging three turbine fires scattered debris over hundreds of acres of land, damaging his crops. Alan Weets of Mechanicsville is suing the Chicago-based company Nordex USA, which does business as Acciona Windpower North America and Anchor Wind, in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa. Weets alleges that in 2010, he entered into an agreement with Acciona that gave the company an easement on his property for . . . Complete story »
Wind turbine collapses at Hwasun’s Geumsungsan Plant
A nearby resident thought it ‘was an earthquake’. A wind turbine collapsed at the Geumsungsan Wind Power Plant in Hwasun-gun, Jeonnam. According to Hwasun-gun, around 2:50 a.m. on the 21st, one 4.7-megawatt (MW) wind turbine, installed along the ridge of Hwacheong Mountain in Uchi-ri, Doam-myeon, Hwasun-gun, broke at the middle pole and fell. There were no casualties as it occurred in a restricted area. The wind turbine that had the accident was the 11th of the 11 turbines in the . . . Complete story »
Crew injured as offshore support vessel hits North Sea wind turbine
The Royal Dutch Sea Rescue Society reports it evacuated two injured crewmembers from a privately operated offshore standby safety vessel that had hit the base off an offshore wind turbine in the North Sea. There is no word on the condition of the two crewmembers who were taken to a hospital in the Netherlands while the media reports indicate a third crewmember also voluntarily went to the hospital after the vessel returned to port. The call for the medical evacuation . . . Complete story »
19-year-old Wyoming wind technician dies in fall from turbine
Anna Cobb will always remember the kindness that her nephew Liam Cobb, 19, possessed, and his curiosity about how all things worked in the world. “He was just a good member of society,” she said. Liam Cobb died Wednesday while working on a wind turbine near Medicine Bow in Carbon County. Anna Cobb said her nephew fell while working his job as a wind turbine technician. “It’s just kind of devastating when you see a young person pass away,” she . . . Complete story »
Truck carrying wind turbine part veers off road in western Lithuania
A truck carrying a wind turbine component veered off the Šiauliai-Palanga road near Plungė, in western Lithuania, on Friday. According to Via Lietuva, the heavy-duty vehicle overturned on the roadside at around the 84th kilometer of the highway. It was transporting a wind turbine tower section with a diameter of six meters. The state road operator said the truck, equipped with a special trailer, was hauling the cargo from the port of Klaipėda to Kelmė District. It added that traffic . . . Complete story »
