Wind Power News: Accidents
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch to help keep readers informed about developments related to industrial wind energy. They are the products of the organizations or individuals noted and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of National Wind Watch.
Ravenshoe wind turbine goes up in flames
A wind turbine has gone up in flames at Ravenshoe’s Windy Hill for the first time since operations began 18 years ago. Several Queensland Fire and Emergency (QFES) crews attended the blaze, which ignited about 3pm. A QFES spokeswoman said crews stood by for safety in the event that it led to a grass fire. Ratch spokesman Simon Greenacre confirmed a turbine at the company’s Windy Hill Wind Farm had caught alight. He said the fire was contained within a . . . Complete story »
Disabled and disassembled: Blades removed from Applied Materials turbine
The giant wind turbine that has generated both power and a number of repair issues for the Applied Materials/Varian Semiconductor Associates facility in Gloucester’s Blackburn Industrial Park literally have reached a new low. Portions of the 492-foot high turbine had been disassembled and were lying on the ground Wednesday morning. The disassembly marks at least the third time in the last four years that the Applied turbine – the tallest of the three within the industrial park – has been shut down . . . Complete story »
Thai turbine failure sparks Vestas probe
Danish turbine manufacturer Vestas has launched an investigation into the failure of a wind turbine in Thailand. Vestas said a nacelle detached from the tower and fell to the ground together with the blades at one of the company’s V136, 3MW machines at Wind Energy Holding’s 60-turbine T2 and T3 wind farm in Nakhon Ratchasima and Chaiyaphum provinces. The incident happened at 11.30am local time on 30 October, the company said. It added that no one was injured and no . . . Complete story »
Fukushima wind turbine, symbol of disaster recovery, to be removed
A floating wind turbine built off Fukushima Prefecture to symbolize recovery after the 2011 nuclear disaster will be removed, a government source said Friday. The offshore power facility was put in place as the Fukushima prefectural government introduced renewable energy after the triple reactor meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in the days following the huge earthquake and tsunami of March 2011. Experimental studies were conducted with a view toward commercialization but the turbine, one of the world’s . . . Complete story »
Power restored to Maui customers
Power was restored Saturday evening to about 22,000 Maui customers who experienced an outage earlier in the day, Maui Electric Co. spokesperson Shayna Decker said Sunday. At around 3:55 p.m. Saturday, about 22,000 customers in parts of Upcountry, Lahaina, Kahului, Haiku and East Maui lost power when wind energy from an independent wind farm on the island suddenly dropped and affected frequency of energy on the electrical grid. Decker said this caused the grid to automatically shed loads on various . . . Complete story »
Electrical fire at wind turbine
IPSWICH – Firefighters have successfully put out a fire at one of the two wind turbines on Town Farm Road on Thursday. The incident was reported at around 1:35 p.m. on October 18. The dispatcher radioed that the fire was called in by an employee. No one was reported injured in the incident. The dispatcher said the employee reported a “pretty good electrical fire – smoke is coming from the unit, and he has no fire extinguisher.” The fire was confined to . . . Complete story »
Turbine fire quickly extinguished
IPSWICH – A wind turbine by the transfer station burned for more than an hour before the fire department was called to intervene, and the closest hydrant was far out of reach once trucks finally rolled down Town Farm Road. But neither of those problems complicated the situation, and the electrical fire was quick and easy to put out, fire Chief Andy Theriault said. “Someone saw smoke in the turbine, and by the time we got the phone call, it was . . . Complete story »
Fire destroys wind turbine in the Emsland
Rhede. Im Windenergiepark in Rhede ist ein Windrad durch einen Brand in einem Maschinenhaus vollständig abgebrannt. Die Betreibergesellschaft Windpark Rhede GmbH & Co. KG geht davon aus, dass sich der entstandene Sachschaden auf bis zu 1,5 Millionen Euro belaufen könnte. Der Feuerwehr bescherte der Brand gleich drei Einsätze. Nach Angaben der Polizei brach das Feuer im Windpark am Q-Weg im Nordwesten der Gemeinde gegen 3 Uhr am Freitagmorgen aus. Das Feuer war in oder an einem Maschinenhäuschen ausgebrochen und hatte . . . Complete story »
Wind turbine in Rhede in flames
In der Gemeinde Rhede im Emsland hat in der Nacht zu Freitag ein etwa 90 Meter hohe Windenergieanlage Feuer gefangen. Laut Polizei fiel auch ein Flügel herunter. Menschen wurden nicht verletzt. Da die Feuerwehr einen Brand in der großen Höhe nicht löschen kann – eine Drehleiter schafft maximal 23 Meter -, ließen die Einsatzkräfte die Anlage kontrolliert abbrennen. Das Gelände um das Windrad herum wurde weiträumig abgesperrt, da brennende Teile der Anlage immer wieder zu Boden stürzten. Allein der Rotordurchmesser . . . Complete story »
Storm Callum sends wind turbine crashing into field where prize-winning horses graze
Storm Callum has smashed a wind turbine into pieces sending bits of it crashing into a field where it “traumatised” a couple’s prize-winning horses. Janet Nicholls said bits of fibreglass and a huge blade from the machine came crashing down into the field where five of her and her husband David’s nine horses were grazing. The collapse was part of mass devastation across Cornwall after forecasters sent out warnings that Callum would bring a danger to life. There were also . . . Complete story »
