WIND TURBINE SAFETY
COMPLACENCY AND COVER UP
© Roger Savage.
While few would contend that turbines are a major threat to public safety (most deaths and injuries are suffered by those transporting, erecting and maintaining turbines), the wind industry is marked by both a reluctance to admit to accidents and a tendency to cover up the failings of the technology.1
In the last five years there have been some 1,500 reported accidents/‘incidents’ in the UK resulting in 4 deaths and a further 300 injuries to workers.
Many accidents are not reported and examples of industry cover-ups abound.
The wind industry always tries to play down the frequency of turbine accidents: for example, in Cornwall in 2006, “Part of a wind turbine blade weighing more than half a ton snapped off and crashed into a field during high winds. Operators Cumbria Windfarms said the site has been running since April 1993 and nothing like this had happened there before.” It had, as several locals pointed out: in 1993, a month after the turbine park opened, they had had a similar accident.
Just recently, we had a spokesperson for Scottish Power quoted as saying of a blade accident at Whitelee, “This is a highly unusual situation. I've not heard of this kind of incident happening in 30 years.” 2
This may fool some of the public, but, as is evident from this page, blade failures are fairly common and there have been several instances just in the North East and Borders, when very few turbines were operating in the area.
A Dutch company whose core business is blade repair admits that, “Rotor blade lightning damage is a common problem.” (NGup Rotor Blades).
‘SEND US YOUR BURNOUTS, WE ACCEPT TRADE-INS’ (Generator Manufacturer's Slogan)
Turbine fires are nearly as common as blade accidents, which is no great surprise when you consider that turbines have a combination of large volumes of lubricants, highly stressed bearings and electrical generating sets - brought together at the top of a very high lightning conductor.
Modern turbines are too high for fire fighters to use ladder equipment. Unless firefighting helicopters are available, turbines are normally left to burn out, burning off large quantities of oil, plastics and other noxious materials in the process.
SAFE SEPARATION DISTANCES
The propensity of very large industrial wind turbines to catch fire, shed blades or bits thereof, throw ice and, occasionally, to suffer catastrophic, high speed blade failures followed by a tower collapse leads sensible people to question their construction close to houses or transport routes.
The world wide problem of turbine noise nuisance also underlines the need for sensible separation distances.
Other countries have acted on that conclusion. In Scotland there is planning guidance (SPP 6, Renewables) which suggests a 2 kilometre separation distance. Similar separation distances have been put in place in other countries, in Europe, parts of Australia, Canada and the US.
Nothing so sensible exists in England and Wales. If anything, things have got worse. In the 1990’s the DTI was suggesting a 450m separation distance for turbines that then were a maximum of 60m high. Now, with 125m turbines the norm, and turbines of up to 200m being built in France and Germany, there is no suggested cordon sanitaire and we are entirely at the mercy of developers and the haphazard decisions of local planning authorities, many of which have little experience or understanding of wind turbines.
The industry routinely proposes building 100-140m turbines within 500m of housing although they are well aware of the noise problems with large turbines.
-------------------------
1 Caithness Windfarm Information Forum has some data on UK turbine accidents.
2 See article below.
TWO FACES OF THE WIND INDUSTRY:
THE SPIN:
“Fancy a fun-filled family day out at your local wind farm this Bank Holiday Weekend?
This August Bank Holiday (27/28 August), on the last weekend before schools go back, families across the UK will be able to visit a working wind farm and touch a turbine as part of the first ever, simultaneous nationwide opening of wind farms – and all for FREE.” (BWEA Press release).
INDUSTRY WARNINGS:
Turbine operating manuals and site noticeboards tell a different story:
© 2008 Don Brownlow Photography.
THE DTI REACTS
The BWEA’s irresponsibility in encouraging thousands of children to touch electricity generators, and Powergen’s [now E.ON UK] equally notorious ‘Hug a turbine’ TV advertising campaign, eventually caused such an outcry that the wind industry’s friends at the DTI were forced to issue a warning:
“We would not normally advise any member of the public to make contact with installations being used for the supply of electricity,” said a DTI spokesman. “Though the risks to the public from wind turbines are minimal they are large industrial structures and it is sensible to take precautions.”
(‘Warning: don't hug a wind turbine’, The Times, 28 May, 2006).
Wind power station operators continue to ignore safety advice from their own industry and the government:
“There was a range of children’s craft activities which included making wind chimes, wind socks and there was the opportunity to leave your hand print on one of the turbines” [our emphasis].
(‘Duns nursery benefits from Black Hill wind farm cash’, Berwickshire News, 9 June 2010. Article refers to wind industry open day event).
Can you imagine the outcry there would be in parliament and the press if children were invited to leave handprints on electrical transformers or hug a gas turbine?
‘WUTHERING HEIGHTS - THE DANGERS OF WIND POWER
Spiegel Online, August 20, 2007.
‘Wind turbines continue to multiply the world over. But as they grow bigger and bigger, the number of dangerous accidents is climbing. How safe is wind energy?
‘After the industry's recent boom years, wind power providers and experts are now concerned. The facilities may not be as reliable and durable as producers claim. Indeed, with thousands of mishaps, breakdowns and accidents having been reported in recent years, the difficulties seem to be mounting. Gearboxes hiding inside the casings perched on top of the towering masts have short shelf lives, often crapping out before even five years is up. In some cases, fractures form along the rotors, or even in the foundation, after only limited operation. Short circuits or overheated propellers have been known to cause fires. All this despite manufacturers' promises that the turbines would last at least 20 years.
‘Gearboxes have already had to be replaced “in large numbers,” the German Insurance Association is now complaining. “ In addition to generators and gearboxes, rotor blades also often display defects,” a report on the technical shortcomings of wind turbines claims. The insurance companies are complaining of problems ranging from those caused by improper storage to dangerous cracks and fractures.
‘[...]
‘Wind power expert Martin Stöckl knows the problems all too well. The Bavarian travels some 80,000 kilometers (49,710 miles) across Germany every year, but he is only rarely able to help the wind farmers. It is not just the rotors that, due to enormous worldwide demand, take forever to deliver, but simple replacement parts are likewise nowhere to be found. “You often have to wait 18 months for a new rotor mount, which means the turbine stands still for that long,” says Stöckl.
‘“Sales Top, Service Flop” is the headline on a recent cover story which appeared in the industry journal Erneuerbare Energien. The story reports the disastrous results of a questionnaire passed out to members of the German WindEnergy Association asking them to rank manufacturers. Only Enercon, based in Germany, managed a ranking of “good.” The company produces wind turbines without gearboxes, eliminating one of the weakest links in the chain.
‘Even among insurers, who raced into the new market in the 1990s, wind power is now considered a risky sector. Industry giant Allianz was faced with around a thousand damage claims in 2006 alone. Jan Pohl, who works for Allianz in Munich, has calculated that on average “an operator has to expect damage to his facility every four years, not including malfunctions and uninsured breakdowns.”
Many insurance companies have learned their lessons and are now writing maintenance requirements -- requiring wind farmers to replace vulnerable components such as gearboxes every five years -- directly into their contracts. But a gearbox replacement can cost up to 10 percent of the original construction price tag, enough to cut deep into anticipated profits. Indeed, many investors may be in for a nasty surprise. “Between 3,000 and 4,000 older facilities are currently due for new insurance policies,” says Holger Martsfeld, head of technical insurance at Germany's leading wind turbine insurer Gothaer. “We know that many of these facilities have flaws.”
‘Flaws And Dangers
‘And the technical hitches are not without their dangers. For example:
In December of last year, fragments of a broken rotor blade landed on a road shortly before rush hour traffic near the city of Trier.
Two wind turbines caught fire near Osnabrück and in the Havelland region in January. The firefighters could only watch: Their ladders were not tall enough to reach the burning casings.
The same month, a 70-meter (230-foot) tall wind turbine folded in half in Schleswig-Holstein -- right next to a highway.
The rotor blades of a wind turbine in Brandenburg ripped off at a height of 100 meters (328 feet). Fragments of the rotors stuck into a grain field near a road.
‘At the Allianz Technology Center (AZT) in Munich, the bits and pieces from wind turbine meltdowns are closely examined. “The force that comes to bear on the rotors is much greater than originally expected,” says AZT evaluator Erwin Bauer. Wind speed is simply not consistent enough, he points out. “There are gusts and direction changes all the time,” he says.
‘But instead of working to create more efficient technology, many manufacturers have simply elected to build even larger rotor blades, Bauer adds. “Large machines may have great capacity, but the strains they are subject to are even harder to control,” he says.
‘Even the technically basic concrete foundations are suffering from those strains. Vibrations and load changes cause fractures, water seeps into the cracks, and the rebar begins to rust. Repairs are difficult. “You can't look inside concrete,” says Marc Gutermann, a professor for experimental statics in Bremen. “It's no use just closing the cracks from above.”
‘The engineering expert suspects construction errors are to blame. “The facilities keep getting bigger,” he says, “but the diameter of the masts has to remain the same because otherwise they would be too big to transport on the roadways.”
‘Not Sufficiently Resilient
‘Still the wind power business is focusing on replacing smaller facilities with ever larger ones. With all the best sites already taken, boosting size is one of the few ways left to boost output. On land at least. So far, there are no offshore wind parks in German waters, a situation that Minister Gabriel hopes to change. He wants offshore wind farms to produce a total of 25,000 megawatts by 2030.
‘Perhaps by then, the lessons learned on land will ward off disaster at sea. Many constructors of such offshore facilities in other countries have run into difficulties. Danish company and world market leader Vestas, for example, had to remove the turbines from an entire wind park along Denmark's western coast in 2004 because the turbines were not sufficiently resilient to withstand the local sea and weather conditions. Similar problems were encountered off the British coast in 2005.
‘German wind turbine giant Enercon, for its part, considers the risks associated with offshore wind power generation too great, Enercon spokesman Andreas Düser says. While the growth potential is tempting, he says, the company does not want to lose its good standing on the high seas.’
‘60% OF TURBINES MAY BE BEHIND IN CRITICAL MAINTENANCE’
Windtech International, Monday, 04 August 2008.
‘Frontier Pro Services of Banning, California conducted an informal survey of approximately 75 wind farm operators in the United States.’
‘Designed to assess the specific operation and maintenance service needs of wind energy operators, the survey reveals potentially serious threats to wind farms owing largely to the industry-wide shortage of qualified turbine technicians. Many wind farm operations and maintenance teams are so resource constrained that they are barely able to keep up with the unscheduled maintenance repairs their wind turbines require to generate electricity. Even regular, scheduled preventative-maintenance like oil changes and gearbox lubrication (services that are often still under warranty) are falling behind as manufacturers face similar resource struggles related to the shortage of qualified technicians. Gearbox failures account for the largest amount of downtime, maintenance, and lose of power production. These costly failures can total 15-20% of the price of the turbine itself, making wind turbine and gearbox maintenance a high priority. If oil is not properly monitored and replaced as needed, bearing and gear wear will lead to more serious and costly damage to the drive train. When a US$ 1,500 bearing fails unnoticed, it can lead to production loss and revenue loss including an unscheduled replacement of a US$ 100,000 dollar gearbox and a unscheduled crane cost of up to US$ 70,000 to access the failed components.’
LOCAL PROBLEMS
COLDINGHAM TURBINE COLLAPSED
A 30m turbine near Coldingham was deliberately collapsed by its constructors after going out of control on Wednesday, 7 December, 2011.
Lothian and Borders Police said the turbine “suffered brake system failure and had been freewheeling” in 50mph winds.
Nearby houses had been evacuated and the A1107 shut.
The turbine had only been operational for a short time. Unknown to Maden Design, Hannevind, the Swedish manufacturers of the turbine, had gone into receivership shortly before the turbine was erected.
-------------------------
‘Coldingham wind gusts see houses evacuated’, BBC News, 8 December, 2011.
CATASTROPHIC BLADE FAILURE AT CRYSTAL RIG
in April 2005, less than a year after the turbines were commissioned, a 100m turbine at the Crystal Rig in the Lammermuir Hills experienced a catastrophic blade failure.
The 38.8m (127 ft) blade, weighing over 7 tons, broke up at high speed in a gale, throwing debris for a considerable distance.
NISSAN TURBINE FIRE
‘A HUGE wind turbine [actually only 51m] went up in smoke in a massive blaze seen for miles across Wearside.
‘The 200ft structure at the Nissan factory, part of a £2.3million wind farm built in August, burst into flames just after 12.30pm yesterday.
‘The fire was so fierce all three 75-ft long fibreglass blades eventually dropped off and thick black smoke could be seen for miles around.
‘Almost 200 people dialled 999 to alert emergency crews as flames engulfed the turbine.
‘Police closed both the A1231 and the A19 for an hour-and-a-quarter amid worries that parts of the metal tower could fall on to the busy roads.’
(Read the full story: Northern Echo, 23 December, 2005)
BLYTH TURBINES NOT WORKING FOR NEARLY THREE YEARS
The two Blyth offshore turbines, after an early blade failure and cable fault, were out of service from April 2006 until January 2009 due to damage to a power cable on the seabed.
(‘Armour plan to save wind farm’, The Journal, 5 July 2007).
WANSBECK HOSPITAL TURBINE FAILS
A Freedom of Information request by Windbyte in 2009 regarding output figures revealed that the landmark Wansbeck Hospital wind turbine at Ashington, Northumberland, had not been working since 2007.
The small (33m) Vestas turbine in the hospital car park, which was commissioned in 1992, was shut down after a blade began to come apart. This is a fairly common problem, even with newer 125m-plus wind turbines.
A statement from Northumbria Health Care Trust said that: “We have commissioned an external report which will look into the feasability of repairing and re-commissioning the turbine or, if not practical, the alternative uses which the turbine may be put.”
The trust could not reveal how much the turbine cost, as it was included in the hospital’s original capital costs.
The turbine has averaged 14.3% of its headline capacity of 0.1MW since it was commissioned. The British Wind Energy Association has long claimed that, “Over the course of a year, it [‘a modern wind turbine’] will typically generate about 30% of the theoretical maximum output.”.
(‘Wansbeck General wind turbine produces no power for two years’, The Journal, 5 November 2009).
Update:
Northumbria Health Care Trust have announced that the turbine can’t be economically repaired and will be removed.
KIRKHEATON TURBINES AT A STANDSTILL FOR NEARLY TWO YEARS
Two of the three 66.5m turbines at Kirkheaton, which were put up less than 10 years ago, have not operated since Autumn 2008 due to blade faults on two of the turbines.
The turbines were supposed to be removed if they did not operate for six months or longer, but EDF, the French operating company, has been granted a second 12 month variation on the planning conditions by Northumberland County Council.
(‘Faulty Northumberland wind turbines could be taken down’, The Journal, 23 June 2009).
‘SPINNING TO DESTRUCTION’
‘Wind power may be one of the cleaner, greener energy sources available, but turbine and blade failures point to dangers that were not anticipated, says Michael Connellan
The Guardian, 4 September 2008
‘David Campbell and his family were asleep in their farmhouse in Northern Ireland when the 16-foot blade from the wind turbine crashed through the roof of his home one windy night in January last year. “It was like a bomb hitting the roof,” he told the Belfast Telegraph. “It shattered the tiles and the blade disintegrated itself.”
‘Campbell was not the only person to see the direct effects of a turbine failure. Just over a year later, in February, a 200ft Vestas wind turbine near the Danish city of Århus disintegrated spectacularly in high winds when a blade came loose and smashed into the central tower, causing the whole structure to collapse. The incident was captured on video camera and footage has been viewed thousands of times on YouTube.
‘Just two days later a turbine close to the town of Sidinge, in Denmark, sent a blade flying more than 300ft before it hit the ground. Keld Boye, a farmer whose land is near the structure, told Danish television: “I drive my tractor and my wife rides horses out there. Just think if we'd been out there when it happened.”
‘After Denmark’s climate minister demanded an investigation, authorities found the blade loss was caused by a lack of maintenance: regular checks on bolts in the turbine had been neglected. The Danish government announced mandatory service checks for every one of the 5,000 wind turbines in the country.
‘Cracking up
‘Turbines in Britain - there are 2,000, almost all of which are onshore - aren’t immune from failure. A 200ft turbine at a wind farm in Kintyre collapsed last November in a 50mph wind. Following that, 26 wind turbines across Scotland were shut down as a precautionary measure while the broken structure was examined. Then the following month in Cumbria, a 100ft steel turbine crashed to the ground.
‘Six months later, in June, as concerns over the incidents last year were receding, a blade cracked away from a 190ft turbine on a Sheffield University research park. Police evacuated the area while engineers allowed the 30ft blade to fall to the ground. The turbine was made by WES, a Dutch company. Earlier that month, the British government had published its renewable energy strategy - with plans to build around 4,000 new onshore wind turbines.
‘[...]’
EXAMPLES OF OTHER UK ACCIDENTS
SHROPSHIRE TURBINE COLLAPSES
It is reported that a 32.4m (112.2 ft) Endurance E-3120 turbine suffered a catastrophic collapse at Wattlesborough near Shrewsbury, Shropshire on 19 January, 2012.
The controversial turbine had only recently been commissioned.
-------------------------
See: ‘More trouble with wind turbines’, Shropshire Star, 20 January, 2012.
ENGINEERS INVESTIGATE WELSH TURBINE FAILURE
It is reported that engineers are investigating the cause of the catastrophic failure of one of 103 Mitsubishi turbines at Penrhyddlan & Llidiartywaun (P&L) Wind Farm, near Llandinam, in December. *
-------------------------
* Shropshire Star, 13 January, 2012.
‘WIND TURBINES RIPPED APART BY GALE FORCE WINDS IN HUDDERSFIELD’
Huddersfield Daily Examiner, 6 January, 2012.
‘Huge turbine blades flew off three windmills as high winds lashed Huddersfield.
‘There were problems at Hepworth and at two farms in Upper Cumberworth.
‘But the Brighouse firm who made the damaged turbines has promised a full investigation.
‘A fourth windmill, in Holmfirth, has also been damaged in the gales of the past few days.
‘Concerned villagers in Hepworth warned: “Someone could have been killed,” after one of the blades was flung across a road.
‘Ryan Gill, of Brighouse-based manufacturers Evoco, told the Examiner it is not yet clear why the turbine malfunctioned and investigations are under way.
[...]’
© Stuart McMahon
A turbine in a turbine park near Ardrossan, North Ayrshire, caught fire and burnt out on Thursday afternoon, 8 December, 2011.
The turbines were not generating at the time due to gale force winds.
‘ULTIMATE WIND POWER DESTROYS TURBINE AT SCAPEGOAT HILL’
Huddersfield Daily Examiner, 1 December, 2011.
‘A wind turbine came crashing down as high winds and burst of torrential rain swept across Huddersfield.
‘The turbine was one of two that had been put up on fields off Halifax Road at Scapegoat Hill earlier this year.
[...]’
‘ECO-FRIENDLY SCHOOL LEFT OUT OF POCKET AFTER ‘UNPROVEN’ WIND TURBINE BREAKS’
The Telegraph, 5 October 2011.
‘An eco-friendly school has been left £55,000 out of pocket after its wind turbine broke – with governors admitting that it was based on “completely unproven technology”.
‘The company that installed the turbine has gone bust leaving the school with a pile of scrap.
‘The Gorran School in Cornwall revealed its 15 metre turbine in 2008 which was designed to provide it with free electricity - and sell any surplus power to the National Grid.
‘The system was seen as a green blueprint for clean, sustainable energy for schools nationwide and received grants from various bodies including the EDF power firm.
‘But soon after being installed the wind turbine became faulty and after a few months seized up - showering the school's playing field with debris.
‘Since then the school has been locked in a battle with suppliers Proven Energy which has now gone into administration leaving the school with little hope of any money being returned - and a pile of scrap in their field.
[...]’
‘NEW SPIN FOR A.M.R.C.’s FAILED WIND TURBINE PROJECT’
The Sheffield Star, 6 October, 2011
‘Two wind turbines on South Yorkshire’s Advanced Manufacturing Park [!] are to be demolished after being mothballed for around two years, because the blades fell off one of them.
[...]’
‘TURBINE IN A FLAP AFTER SECOND SAFETY FAILURE’
Western Daily Press, 23 September, 2011.
‘A council-owned wind turbine in Yeovil has been taken down for a second time amid concerns about its safety.
‘The future of the turbine is now uncertain after the company which supplied it went in to administration.
‘Technicians took down the turbine at Yeovil Innovation Centre in Copse Road after manufacturer Proven Energy warned of a defect. Three turbines of the same P35-2 type have suffered failures in high winds in recent months.
[...]
‘It is the second time the turbine has been dismantled. The propeller was removed for six months in November 2009 after problems developed on a turbine of the same design elsewhere in the UK.
[...]
‘PROVEN’ TURBINES FAIL
Proven Energy, the Scottish manufacturer of smaller turbines used by farmers, has been put into receivership following the discovery of “acute technical” problems with its flagship P35-2 turbine.
Owners of over 600 turbines have been told to shut them down due to the risk of catastrophic mechanical failure.
-------------------------
‘Wind turbine firm closes as blade hazard is found’, Herald, Scotland, 17 September 2011.
‘SIX-FOOT BLADE FLIES OFF NEW LISTER TURBINE’
The Comet, 6 September, 2011.
‘A blade from a wind turbine on the roof of the new Lister Hospital car park flew off in high winds last night (Monday) hitting a car.
‘The six-foot blade, part of a turbine that only became fully operational last week, hit a staff member’s car, damaging its roof.
[...]’
FIRE AT WELSH TURBINE PARK
Daily Post, North Wales, 27 October, 2010.
‘Fire crews were called to a wind turbine blaze at Tir Mostyn/Foel Goch windfarm near Nantglyn, Denbighshire. The fire started in one of the 25 turbines at the site near Llyn Brenig. A fire crew from Denbigh were on standby at the site for around two hours.’
‘WIND TURBINE ON PORTLAND BLOWN OVER BY GALES’
Dorset Echo, 16th July 2010.
‘A WIND turbine at the Sailing academy has been blown down – by the wind.
‘The turbine in the academy’s car park was levelled in the early hours of yesterday as the Portland coastline was lashed by winds of up to 55 miles per hour.
‘[...]’
‘WIND FARM SHUT DOWN OVER SAFETY FEARS AFTER 150FT TURBINE BLADE FALLS OFF’
Daily Record, Mar 23 2010
‘EUROPE’S largest wind farm ground to a halt after a 150ft blade snapped off one of the turbines.
‘All 140 of the giant machines were immediately shut down at the £300million development near Glasgow until they could be inspected.
‘Engineers at Whitelee wind farm, which is run by ScottishPower Renewables, were trying to work out why the blade came crashing down.
‘[...]
‘German company Siemens, who supplied the turbines, are also understood to be investigating.
‘The 360ft turbines are so massive that engineers have been able to climb inside them to try to detect the problem.
‘Over the weekend, the site at Eaglesham Moor, 13 miles from Glasgow city centre, was cordoned off to keep visitors away. Raymond Toms, 45, a teacher from East Kilbride, spotted the broken turbine as he cycled past on Sunday.
‘He said: “I was out for a bike ride and I saw one of the massive blades had broken clean off. It was quite unnerving really.
‘“You can walk right up to these things normally and touch them.
‘[...]
‘SCHOOL WIND TURBINE COLLAPSES AND CRUSHES CONTRACTOR’S VAN’ (NORFOLK)
Daily Mail 2 December 2009.
‘A wind turbine collapsed just yards away from stunned students as it was being set up on a school field yesterday.
‘The playing field at Fakenham High School, Norfolk, was evacuated after the 40ft turbine fell, crushing the bonnet of a contractor's van.
[...]’
‘WIND BLADES FELL IN SCHOOL YARD’ (SCOTLAND)
Raasay children sent home after 50ft turbine collapsed
Press and Journal. 21 November, 2009.
‘Children at an island primary were sent home after a newly-installed wind turbine next to their school collapsed, it emerged yesterday.
‘Parents of youngsters at the 18-pupil Raasay Primary School were asked to collect their children following the incident on November 13.
‘The 50ft turbine will “remain out of commission” until an investigation has been carried out.
‘The 6KW machine was installed at the school earlier this month, but was soon the subject of complaints due to the noise it was making.
‘The turbine then collapsed, landing in the school’s playground, although no one was hurt.
‘A Highland Council spokesman confirmed that a meeting was held between representatives from the authority and school staff yesterday.
‘He said an independent appraisal of the turbine would now be carried out and that the blades would be removed within the next few days.
[...]’
TURBINE BLADE BREAKS TWICE IN 15 MONTHS
The Telegraph, 10 Oct 2009.
‘A blade on a wind turbine in Sheffield has broken in strong winds for the second time in 15 months.
‘Manufacturers of the 190ft high turbine, one of three owned by Sheffield University, are now investigating the damage at the site close to the city’s Parkway link road to the M1.
[...]’
BOLTS NOT UFO’S!
Dale Vince of Ecotricity has been assiduous in spreading the silly story that the turbines which suffered catastrophic blade failure at his Conisholme power station might have been struck by a UFO or some other mysterious external agent:
‘It was Mr Vince's willingness to consider paranormal explanations that drew attention to the UFO theories, and he told the Telegraph he was disappointed by the results [of the tests].’
As most sensible people with any knowledge of the wind industry know, it is never UFO’s, little green men or sabotage by low-flying NIMBY’s on broomsticks which are responsible for the frequent failure of turbine blades. It is the more mundane story of poor design, defective construction, material failure, lightning strike or poor maintenance (or permutate any combination). The usual consequences are loss or break up of blades, sometimes resulting in the catastrophic collapse of the entire structure as blades impact on the tower.
Unsurprisingly, Enercon, the manufacturers of the Conisholme turbines, have now discovered that the bolts attaching a blade failed.
This is of little comfort to people who live close to massive turbines with 40 to 50m long blades that weigh 8 to 12 tonnes (61.5m blades now being built weigh nearly 18 tonnes). Broken blades, or pieces thereof, have travelled hundreds of metres in previous blade failures.
(See:‘UFO wind turbine “broke due to mechanical failure not collision with flying object”’, The Telegraph, 10 Feb 2009.
‘Are UFO's to blame for the chaos at Conisholme wind farm?’, Louth Leader, 5 January 2009).
© LM Glasfiber.
‘FARMHOUSE HORROR AS TURBINE BLADE SMASHES THROUGH ROOF’
Belfast Telegraph, 18 June 2008.
‘A farmer has described the shocking moment a 16-foot wind turbine blade smashed through the roof of his home as his family slept inside.
‘“It was like a bomb hitting the roof of the house. It shattered the tiles and the blade disintegrated itself,” David Campbell told the Belfast Telegraph.
‘The turbine was one of a batch of 11 defective machines installed on farms in Northern Ireland with the help of European funding provided by the Department of Agriculture.
‘[...]’
‘WIND DOWN
Lowestoft Journal, 28 March, 2008.
‘Owners of the UK's tallest mainland wind turbine have admitted that it was unable to generate electricity for nearly five months after two lightning strikes.’
‘LIGHTNING SHATTERS TURBINE
Cumberland News & Star, 27 June 2006.
‘The blade of a wind turbine disintegrated and fell 200ft after being struck by lightning near Workington.
‘Police cordoned off the area after the incident amid fears that more debris could fall from the turbine at Oldside.
‘A member of the public, who witnessed the spectacular lightning strike earlier this month, alerted police.
‘Sgt Peter Garforth said: “The blade was made of fibre glass. If anyone had been underneath it, they could have been sliced into pieces."
‘[...]’
ANOTHER TURBINE ‘MYTH’ SHATTERED
The wind industry claim that it is only scare-mongering NIMBY’s who say that ice throw from wind turbines can endanger the public.
© PeterboroughToday.co.uk
‘Wind turbine's deadly ice shower
PeterboroughToday.co.uk, 2 December 2008
Residents were left fearing for their safety after shards of melting ice fell on homes and gardens from the blades of a giant wind turbine. For about four hours people in King's Dyke, Whittlesey, had to take cover as huge lumps – some two feet long – showered them from the 80 metre high tower on Saturday morning.
Resident Peter Randall, whose son's house lies a stone's throw away from the turbine, said: "Somebody is going to get killed. There was huge lumps of ice shooting off and landing everywhere.
“No one wants to leave the house because they are frightened and worried about the ice falling.”
“My son's partner is pregnant and she is now worried sick about her unborn baby.”
Freezing overnight temperatures had caused the ice to form and after frantic calls to Truro-based firm Cornwall Light and Power, which owns the turbine, the £2 million machine was eventually turned off.
[...]’
(See BBC News video).
EXAMPLES OF ACCIDENTS IN OTHER COUNTRIES
‘Wind turbine catches on fire’ (Altona, New York)
WCAX News, 29 January, 2012.
‘Authorities are investigating what caused a wind turbine to catch fire in Northern New York.
‘It happened Saturday night in Altona. Officials say people driving by the windfarm noticed the fire in one of the 400 foot turbines. Noble Environmental, the owner of the windfarm, says no one was injured. The cause of the fire is not known.
‘Two years ago a turbine at the same park came crashing down when the blades spun out-of-control in high winds. An investigation in that case uncovered a wiring problem that prevented the turbine from safely shutting down.
[...]
French turbine loses blade
The French Delta FM radio station reports that one of an array of 3 turbines close to the A16 motorway between Boulogne and Le Touquet lost a blade and suffered damage to the remaining blades in stormy weather on 4 January, 2012.
Luckily, the damaged blade parts were not blown onto the motorway.
‘ALSTOM TURBINE CRASHES ON SPANISH HIGHWAY’
Windpower Monthly, 8 November, 2011.
‘SPAIN: High winds and alleged lack of maintenance has have caused a 35-metre high Alstom turbine to fall onto the roadside of the N-340 highway in Tarifa, Spain's southernmost and windiest district.
[...]
‘As a wind hotspot, there are many such early experimental projects among hundreds of small turbines in Tarifa dating back to the early 1990s.
‘Locals have long complained many machines are neglected as proper maintenance is not profitable.’
‘SAFETY A BREEZE FOR WIND TURBINE’ (OHIO)
The Star Beacon (Ashtabula, Ohio), 18 October, 2011.
‘CONNEAUT — The wind turbine struck by lightning this past summer sustained considerable damage but poses no safety threat to people, according to a message from the company that built the generator.
[...]
‘The lakefront turbine was constructed in early 2010, one of two machines erected by NexGen. The second is a larger turbine at Conneaut Middle School that has been plagued with problems since its arrival.
[...]’
-------------------------
READER COMMENT: “So the 10 to 15 foot piece that blew off of the turbine in the last week and all the little pieces that have fallen since it got struck, have no threat to people. Hope I am not around it when the next 10 footer falls.” (Concerned, October 18, 2011, 3:48pm).
‘ANOTHER WIND TURBINE SPARKS FIRE’ (TEXAS)
ReporterNews, 3 October, 2011.
‘Energy officials say they are taking down a charred 260-foot wind turbine to determine the cause of a fire that began Sunday evening in a rural area west of U.S. 277 and County Road 618, the second turbine blaze to hit the area in the past six weeks.
‘Sunday’s fire occurred less than a five-minute walk from the country home of state Rep. Susan King.
‘In an interview with the Reporter-News, King said the fire lit up “like the Paramount sign”, and was “akin to a Roman candle, with balls of fire flying out and onto the ground”.
[...]’
‘GAMESA INVESTIGATES AFTER WIND TURBINE LOSES BLADE IN INDIA’
RECharge News, 8 September, 2011.
‘Spanish wind turbine manufacturer Gamesa is investigating an incident that saw a rotor blade break-off from one of its machines in India.
‘The blade became detached from the G5X-850 850kW turbine earlier this week. Reports suggest the stray component hit a transmission line.
[...]’
‘WIND TURBINE ERUPTS INTO FLAMES SOUTHWEST OF ABILENE’ (TEXAS)
KTXS News, 25 August, 2011.
‘ABILENE, Texas -- Firefighters from at least three volunteer departments are on the scene of a burning wind turbine southwest of Abilene.
‘ECCA Fire Chief Gary Young said the fire started in the wind turbine tower and then spread to grass around the tower.
‘Young said firefighters are working in rough terrain trying to keep the fire from spreading to other towers in the area.
[...]’
GERMAN TURBINE COLLAPSE
There was a spectacular, unexplained turbine collapse at a wind park in Kirtorf, Eastern Hesse, Germany, on Sunday, 19 June 2011.
MAN KILLED BY TURBINE LORRY DRIVING ON WRONG SIDE OF ROAD. (IRELAND)
‘Inquest hears of Ballybeg, Buttevant truck crash horror’, The Corkman, 26 May, 2011.
‘WIND TURBINE FAILURES PUT STATE ENERGY PROGRAM ON HOLD’
MyCentralJersey.com April, 2011.
‘LACEY — Hoping to save money by generating renewable energy from wind turbines instead of buying it from a power company, two Forked River farm owners had 120-foot turbines erected on their properties in December.
‘But by March 8, the turbines no longer were rotating. Three fiberglass blades ranging in weight from 265 to 290 pounds flew off the tower of the turbine at James Knoeller’s Christmas Tree Farm on Carriage Road on March 2.
‘Knoeller’s 17-year-old granddaughter, Sarah, was working with horses near the tower when the blades flew off.
‘“One of them nearly hit her,” Knoeller said. “The weather was fine. There were mild winds. One of the blades was found 215 feet away.
‘“The most disappointing aspect of this project prior to the blades falling off was the electric production was only 25 percent of what I was told I was going to get by Skylands Renewable Energy. The catastrophic blade failure was the last straw,” Knoeller added.
[...]’
‘IBERDROLA HALTS WIND FARM AFTER SUZLON TURBINE BLADES FALL’
Bloomberg, 21 March, 2011
‘Iberdrola SA (IBE), the biggest producer of renewable energy, halted power production at a 150-megawatt wind farm in Rugby, North Dakota, after the blades of a Suzlon Energy Ltd. (SUEL) S88 generator fell from their mount.
[...]’
PILOT KILLED IN WIND TOWER CRASH [CALIFORNIA]
Sacramento & Co., 20 January 2011.
‘SACRAMENTO, CA - The agricultural pilot killed while seeding a field in the Delta likely never saw the steel tower that caused the fatal crash, according to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board.
‘Stephen Allen, 58, of Courtland, struck an unmarked 198-foot tower Jan. 10 that had been erected on Webb Tract in 2009 to evaluate the possible placement of wind turbines, according to the NTSB.
[...]
‘Moore [National Agricultural Aviation Association executive director Andrew Moore] said at least 24 pilots have been killed by low towers in the past decade, although not all of the towers were METs [meteorological masts].
[...]’
‘CAN’T FIGHT THE FIRE’ (AUSTRALIA)
Victor Harbor Times, South Australia, 4 November, 2010.
‘CAPE JERVIS - Do you call the CFS in the event of a wind turbine fire?
‘While it might seem like the right thing to do, according to group officer for the Southern Fleurieu CFS Mr Greg Crawford, there is little to nothing the CFS can do in this situation, as officers found out at the weekend.
‘Last Saturday at 2.33 pm, the Southern Fleurieu CFS group was alerted to a fire at the Starfish Hill Wind Farm, near Cape Jervis, in which a turbine had caught alight.
‘The fire caused $3,000,000 in damage.
‘On arrival, CFS officers could do little but watch the blaze from half a kilometre away, as the situation was deemed too dangerous to approach.
‘[...]’
‘WAUBRA POLICY TO LET TURBINE FIRES BURN OUT’ (AUSTRALIA)
“Local fire fighters could do little but watch the blaze from half a kilometre away as the situation was deemed too dangerous to approach ...WorkSafe officers ordered fire fighters a further 500 metres away as burning tips of the blades were flying off from the structure.”
The Courier, 20 November, 2010.
‘Waubra wind farm operator Acciona has confirmed a policy of allowing fires in turbines to burn out.
‘Director of generation Brett Wickham said the height of turbine poles, about 80 metres, precluded safe fire fighting.
‘[...]’
‘DRUNKEN’ GERMAN TURBINE
Norddeutscher Rundfunk story, 13 November 2010, on a ‘drunken’ turbine at a turbine park at Hafentörn in Büsum, Schleswig Holstein. The whole structure was shown wobbling from side to side after losing a rotor blade.
The video has now been removed from the NR website.
FRENCH TURBINES CATCH FIRE AFTER BRAKES FAIL
23 September, 2010.
EPAW summary: ‘Media commentators said the turbines’ braking system failed, the machines revved up and caught fire. One of them exploded, sending burning debris into the vegetation and starting fires. Thank God it had rained two days before, said a woman to the journalist, but had this occurred in August, it would have been a different matter. The radio commentator said a similar incident occurred 8 years ago at the same windfarm.’
‘VESTAS WIND REPORTS PART OF BLADE BROKE OFF V112 WIND TURBINE PROTOTYPE’
Bloomberg, 9 September, 2010.
‘A portion of the blade on the first prototype of the Vestas Wind Systems A/S V112 wind turbine broke off late yesterday in Denmark, Michael Holm, a spokesman for the company, said.
‘A six- to seven-meter (20 to 23 feet) portion came off the blade at the turbine in Lem, western Denmark, Holm said today in a telephone interview from Randers, Denmark. “We’re looking into the root cause. We don’t see this as a design error.”
‘[...]’
‘LIGHTNING STRIKE BURNS DOWN WIND TURBINE’
Sioux City Journal (Iowa), 2 August, 2010.
‘A lightning strike started a fire in a wind turbine Saturday morning, destroying the turbine and one of three new blades that had been laid out on the ground beneath it in order to be installed as replacements. Damages totaled $760,000, according to Peterson Fire Chief John Winterboer.
‘The turbine was owned by Aes Wind Generation Inc., of Alta Iowa.
‘Winterboer said the call came in at 7:30 a.m., but firefighters were on the scene until 3:30 p.m. because they had to wait for the turbine and its three blades to burn enough to fall the 210 feet to the ground before they could extinguish the smoky blaze.
‘[...]’
‘AN ILL WIND - BROKEN TURBINE BLADES BOTHER NEARBY RESIDENT’
The Times (Ottawa, Illinois), 27 July 2010
‘Barbara Ellsworth was troubled, but not surprised Saturday morning when she spotted a broken blade on a wind tower near her home.
‘“We thought, ‘Hah! We knew that would happen.’”
‘Ellsworth and her husband Mike live three miles south of Marseilles on East 2450th Road, about 1,200 feet from a wind turbine and about 2,500 feet from one of the two towers damaged during the weekend, possibly by high winds. Chicago-based Invenergy Wind operates the string of towers that run through southeastern La Salle County.
‘[...]’
‘TURBINE’S BLADE DAMAGE “UNUSUAL”
Daily Chronicle (DeKalb, Illinois), May 8, 2010.
‘SHABBONA TOWNSHIP –Officials at NextEra Energy Resources aren't sure what caused one of the three blades on a wind turbine south of the village of Shabbona to fail Friday morning. The 131-foot-long blade hung from the top of the turbine Friday, apparently bent at the base and split along its length.
‘[...]’
‘PLANE CLIPS TOWER NEAR MACDONALD
Daily Graphic [Manitoba, Canada], 1 July 2010.
‘An aerial spray plane clipped the top of a tower at the edge of a field north of Macdonald on Monday.
‘The plane was owned by Jonair and was preparing to spray a near-by field.
‘Jonair owner John Bodie said no one was injured in the incident, but damage to the plane means that it will not be usable for the rest of the season.
‘The 200-foot-high tower was put up to observe wind patterns for a potential wind farm.
‘The tower had no markings, paint or lights on it, making it very difficult to see, said Bodie.
‘[...]’
Comment
Windaction.org (US) notes This is one of several recent incidents of small planes hitting unmarked anemometry masts at wind installations.
‘A DAMAGING BLOW’
San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 January, 2010.
‘Workers are inspecting and repairing 75 wind turbine blades at a wind farm some 60 miles east of San Diego after a storm a month ago caused catastrophic damage to some of them.’
‘[...]’
The Fenner turbine collapse remains unexplained, even after a lengthy investigation. The operators are now reinforcing the foundations of the remaining 19 turbines.
ANOTHER GERMAN TURBINE FIRE
[Wind turbine fault — Fire at 130 meters]
photo: dpa/DPA
See full article.
‘TWO WIND TURBINES SELF-DESTRUCT IN ONE WEEK’
Copenhagen Post, November 3, 2009.
‘Wind turbine blades rip loose near Esbjerg and southwestern Sweden, one landing on a hiking path.
‘A malfunction on a Vestas wind turbine in the town of Falkenberg on Sweden’s southwest coast could have resulted in tragedy, as one of the structure’s large blades flew off and landed on a track used by hikers.
‘Yesterday’s incident follows a similar one this weekend near Esbjerg, where a defective axle caused all of the blades on a 40m high turbine to rip loose, one of them hitting a power transformer.
‘Both wind turbines were produced in Denmark.
‘And, although no one was injured in either incident, the accidents have brought the problem of faulty wind turbines into focus. The wind turbine industry in Sweden has now proposed setting up a commission to investigate the many incidents.
[...]’
STRIKE A LIGHT! MORE VESTAS SMOKERS.
Chabanet, near Privas, Ardeche (France) - ‘A wind turbine destroyed by Fire’
[‘Une éolienne détruite par le feu’ - Le Dauphiné Libéré, 31 October 2009.]FIRE AT FIRST NEW BRUNSWICK WIND FARM
‘[New Brunswick, Canada, 10 August, 2009]. New Brunswick’s first commercial wind farm will lose several weeks of electricity output from one of its 32 turbines after a major fire damaged the towering structure on the weekend.
The blackened shell of the wind turbine, much of its white coating peeled away, was obscured by fog and clouds at the TransAlta wind farm in Alberta County on Monday.
[...]
‘The fire originated 80 metres above ground in the structure’s turbine. Vestas, the company that supplies the turbines, will send a team to determine the cause this week.
[...]
‘The Saturday fire burned for more than an hour and extinguished itself even though Elgin, Riverview and Salisbury fire departments arrived on scene.
‘The fire departments did not have equipment to reach the fire, which towered high above the tree line.
[...]’
(See full story: Telegraph-Journal article).
LIGHTNING DESTROYS TURBINE BLADE
Brieske [Brandenburg, Germany], 3 July 2009. Lightning strike caused the catastrophic break up of a 40m turbine blade on Thursday, 2 July. Large pieces of blade flew for about 150 meters, landing about 50 meters from federal highway 169.
The blade damaged trees, cutting a track in the forest.
(See: Lausitzer Rundschau [in German]).
ANOTHER AMERICAN TURBINE COLLAPSE
‘Noble Environmental Power Confirms Altona Turbine Collapse’
WPTZ.com, March 6, 2009.
‘ALTONA, N.Y. -- Noble Environmental Power has confirmed that a turbine collapsed at its Altona, N.Y., wind park Friday morning, but said no one was injured in the collapse and ensuing fire.’
[...]
‘Residents reported large explosions from the scene at about 9:30 a.m. NewsChannel 5 went to the scene off Purdy Road, which leads to the wind farm, and found Noble trucks blocking the roadway. Noble officials at the scene would not provide access to the area and offered no information about the situation at that time.’
‘Residents in the area told Newschannel 5 they heard what sounded like a large explosion and said the loud noises lasted for several minutes. Others equated the sound to an earthquake and speculated one of the company's large windmills may have thrown a blade. Another local resident told NewsChannel 5 she could see flames coming from Noble.’
[...]
-------------------------
Update
‘The investigation by New York’s Department of Public Service found that the collapse of one turbine and failure of a second at the 65-turbine Noble Altona Windpark was the result of a wiring system that prevented the turbines from being automatically shut down in the event of a loss of electric power.’
(‘Noble Environmental Power faces questions over wind turbine collapse’, Brighter Energy Org. 17 May, 2010).
‘MORE THAN 10 DANISH WIND TURBINES WRECKED IN 3 YEARS’
The Engineer, 26 February 2008.
‘The collapse of a wind turbine is far from unique in Denmark, the Technical Approval Authority at Risø [National Laboratory] states. It has happened between 10 and 15 times in the last three years, and poor maintenance is the most frequent cause.
[...]’ [Our translation].
MINISTER DEMANDS EXPLANATION FOR TURBINE COLLAPSES
The Danish Climate Minister, Connie Hedegaard, called for an investigation to determine the cause of the two violent wind turbine collapses in Denmark in one week in February 2008. Hedegaard's request to the Energy Board came after other accidents were reported in Denmark and elsewhere during the previous two months.
The author of the Danish video clip comments:
“The braking system failed while 2 technicians worked in the turret in the top. They got out before the collapse.
A 19 metre piece of the wing was thrown 200 metres away. Smaller pieces were sent more than 500 metres away..!!”
‘BAD GLUING BLAMED FOR MISHAPS AT WIND FARM’
‘It all came down to glue. And how it was misapplied by workers. Spanish wind-energy company Gamesa said “insufficient and irregular distribution of glue” caused large pieces to break off seven turbine blades at the Allegheny Ridge Wind Farm near Lilly, Cambria County. No one was injured during the mishap in mid-March, but pieces of the blades flew more than 500 feet, according to residents.
‘From a distance, it is hard to comprehend how large the Gamesa turbine blades are - 140 feet long, about 14 feet wide and weighing about 7 tons, according to the company.
‘"It's something the size of a yacht flying through the air," said Brian Alger, an analyst who covers the wind-energy industry for Strata Capital Management in Beverly Hills, Calif.
‘Several of the blade pieces landed on property owned by James A. Davis, 69, of Lilly, and leased in part to Gamesa. One piece was thrown more than 500 feet before coming down through the trees, Davis said. That would put it outside the official 300-foot safety zone around each turbine.
‘[...]’
(The Patriot-News, Pennsylvania, USA. May 7, 2007).
CATASTROPHIC TURBINE FAILURE RAISES DOUBTS ABOUT SAFETY
NEW HAMPSHIRE (October 16, 2008). Turbine #10 at the Searsburg wind energy facility in Searsburg, Vermont experienced a catastrophic failure when one of the blades came in contact with the turbine's tower causing it to buckle during high winds. This turbine's 28-ton nacelle and 3-blade rotor assembly crashed to the ground scattering debris several hundred feet from the structure. Approximately 20-gallons of heavy oil spilled from the unit when its fluid reservoirs were damaged. The 11-turbine Searsburg facility was brought online in 1997 and according to preconstruction documents, the turbines had an expected lifespan of 30-years.
Industrial Wind Action (IWA) Group’s executive director, Lisa Linowes, was not surprised by the failure. “The Searsburg towers are located at an elevation of nearly 3000-feet in some of the harshest weather conditions in New England. Performance issues and blade failures have plagued this project for some time,” she said pointing to incidences in May 2006 and again in May 2008.
While the eleven-year old Searsburg turbines are failing, newer models have not improved the safety record. “Wind developers today tout life expectancies of industrial wind turbines that exceed 20 years,” Linowes said, “but the fact remains that estimates of the functional lifespan of modern utility-scale wind turbines are speculative and cannot be substantiated since so far very few have been operating for ten years.” Unfortunately, unless a person or property is damaged in a turbine failure, there is no obligation for the owner of an industrial wind turbine to report the incident.
Information on the number and types of failures is sparse and poorly reported, and thus this vital data is not adequately incorporated into estimates of turbine longevity. The Searsburg failure occurred on September 15.
“What's more ominous,” Linowes said, “is that reports of turbine failures in the United States are increasing. These failures include blade throws, oil leaks, fires, and collapse.” IWA attributes the increase in reporting to the fact that the machines are more visible, being erected close to where people live, and also due to the growing interest in wind energy development. In the last year alone, IWA has tracked catastrophic failures in Idaho, Minnesota, California, New York, Pennsylvania and elsewhere, raising concerns about public safety.
TURBINE BLADE LANDS ON MAIN ROAD (HOLLAND)
ADEVA (French website), 14 May 2008
A 23 metre turbine blade, weighing some 3 tonnes, broke off and landed on the N245 road between Oudkarspel and Dirkshorn, Holland.
- Borders & Lothians
- Northumberland
- Durham
- Wind Power
- Housing
- Noise
- Safety
- Visuals
- Landowners
- Dirty Tricks
- Birds Page
