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.
30m turbine faces costly repairs after gearbox ‘fails’
The Abergwaun community wind turbine has broken down and faces costly repairs after its gearbox apparently packed up, the County Echo has learnt. The 30m-high turbine at Trebover Farm, Llanychaer – a joint collaboration between a local farmer and Transition Bro Gwaun renewables group – remains out of action after the company that manufactured it went into administration while the firm behind the gearbox went bust. TBG’s 50 per cent share of the £570,000 funding required for the turbine was . . . Complete story »
Video: Oklahoma wind turbine fire
Video from yesterday’s [March 28] wind turbine caused fire, two miles south of Weatherford. The fire was 5 acres in size. #OKFire Complete story »
Photos: Wind turbine catches fire, sparks grass fire in western Oklahoma
Weatherford, Okla. (KOKH) – A wind turbine caught fire, causing a grass fire Wednesday in western Oklahoma. Oklahoma Forestry Services reports that on March 28 a wind turbine two miles south of Weatherford caught fire, throwing sparks to the ground. The sparks caused a grass fire that was contained after growing to approximately five acres. Eight fire engines responded to the scene and were able to contain the fire. Complete story »
Wind turbine catches fire near Weatherford
Weatherford, Okla. – Several residents near Weatherford caught video of a wind turbine on fire on Wednesday afternoon. The thick, black smoke could be seen for miles, but News 4 viewer Brandy Graham says it was the foul smell of plastic burning that caught her attention. She was sharing the video live on Facebook as piece of the turbine started to fall and the smoke grew thicker and darker. The fire could be seen from I-40 and Hwy 54. No . . . Complete story »
Leaks stall turbines, Gloucester’s wind income
GLOUCESTER – The two wind turbines generating electricity and revenue for the city of Gloucester have been slowed due to mechanical issues in recent weeks – and that has slowed the revenue stream the city expects from the giant alternative energy sources. Both of the city’s turbines on the grounds of the former Gloucester Engineering property have leaking hydraulics issues, said Sumul Shah, who works with Solaya Energy of Stoneham and manages maintenance and repairs for the turbines for Equity Partners . . . Complete story »
Highway 50 remains closed both directions east of Fowler
SOUTHERN COLORADO – Highway 50 is closed in both directions after a semi truck carrying wind turbine towers was involved in accident between S. Main St and N.Park St. The highway has been been closed since 2:30 a.m. this morning. One of the towers is partially blocking lanes and crews are working to remove the tower, but it may be quite some time yet. The tower is also blocking the railroad tracks at the location. Power lines are also down . . . Complete story »
Wind turbine piece falls off semi, power outage and Highway 50 blocked
OTERO COUNTY – It’s not something you see every day: a huge piece of a wind turbine blocking the highway. That’s exactly what happened early Tuesday morning near Fowler in Otero County. A semi truck lost it’s load and the accident shut down part of Highway 50 for most of the day. Colorado State Patrol says the size and complexity of the turbine played a role in the accident. While losing the load, a power line was also knocked over . . . Complete story »
Enercon blades destroyed during installation
GERMANY: Two blades of an Enercon turbine were damaged when its wind energy converter “went into overspeed” during installation, the manufacturer has said. The E115 turbine (like the model above) was damaged last week, Enercon confirmed Enercon stated it does not know why this happened during the final stages of installing the E115/3.0MW turbine at the 21MW Borchen-Etteln site in north-west Germany last week (Thursday, 8 March). Investigations into the incident are under way, the company confirmed, and an “independent . . . Complete story »
Enercon probes blade bust
Enercon is investigating the destruction of blades on a E-115 turbine at Westfalenwind’s 21MW Etteln wind farm near Paderborn in North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany. The damage occurred last week when the rotors reached overspeed during final installation works, an Enercon spokesman said. No one was hurt during the incident, he added. The exact reason for the blade failure is not yet known and Enercon is working with an unnamed third-party expert on the investigation. Once the investigations are completed, the turbine . . . Complete story »
Windrad-Havarie: neue 200m-Windkraftanlage in Borchen völlig zerfetzt
[Environmental disaster due to wind turbine accident in the district of Paderborn: A new Enercon wind turbine in Borchen-Etteln has flown apart. A more than 500m radius is contaminated with countless glass fiber particles.] Umweltkatastrophe durch Windenergieanlagen-Unfall im Kreis Paderborn: Ein neues ENERCON-Windrad in Borchen-Etteln ist auseinander geflogen. Ein über 500m großer Umkreis ist mit unzähligen Glasfaser-Partikeln kontaminiert! Am 8. März gegen 19 Uhr sind zwei Rotoren einer nagelneuen ENERCON E-115-Windkraftanlage völlig zerfetzt worden – nach Augenzeugenberichten und Fotos sind . . . Complete story »
