www.windaction.org

SSE warns hydro plant may be shut for a year
September 29, 2009 by Hamish Rutherford in Business.scotsman

The first major UK hydro project to be completed in 50 years, Glendoe was closed less than two months after the Queen officially opened the 100-megawatt station at the end of June. Yesterday, Perth-based SSE said investigations showed that the rock fall, in a tunnel carrying water between the reservoir and the power station, was "very substantial". ...SSE also confirmed the Greater Gabbard wind farm in the Thames Estuary had been hit after faulty welding was discovered on the turbines.

Also filed under [ UK]

Wind farm turbine repairs begin this week
September 22, 2009 by Eric Lewis in Times & Transcript

Work will get under way this week to repair a wind turbine damaged by a fire last month at the Kent Hills wind farm in Albert County, roughly 30 km southwest of Moncton. One of the 32 wind turbines at the site caught fire on the morning of Aug. 8, and it's been offline since.

Also filed under [ Canada]

Faulty wind turbines costly to Minnesota family
September 15, 2009 by Bill Hudson in WCCO

With their organic gardens and ample land, Andy and Jessie Welsh had the perfect plan. Living in rural Stearns County, the young couple had hoped to be energy self-sufficient and green. ...From the start, the installation was delayed and marked by setbacks. Electricians had a hard time getting the turbine wired to run properly. When it finally did, the turbine ran for just a few days before they received a call from the company instructing them to shut it down.

Also filed under [ Minnesota]

Wind farm fire source remains mystery
September 8, 2009 in CBC News

TransAlta Corp. is still investigating what caused a fire last month that destroyed one of its turbines at the Kent Hills Wind Farm, a company spokesman says. ...Lightning has been ruled out as a factor in the Aug. 8 fire.

Also filed under [ Canada]

Perkins Schools turbines back up, but not running yet
August 31, 2009 by Susan McMillan in Sandusky Register

When students pull into the Perkins High School parking lot today, they'll see three wind turbines in front of them, fully assembled for the first time since February. But the blades aren't turning yet, and Perkins Schools superintendent Jim Gunner said the school will proceed cautiously in getting the system back up to full capacity. The original 6-meter blades, some of which blew off during an especially windy day in February, are gone.

Also filed under [ Ohio]

Wind farm fire called first of its kind
August 13, 2009 in Daily Commercial News

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 Albert County.

Also filed under [ Canada]

N.B. wind farm operator deals with loss of output
August 11, 2009 in Times & Transcript

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 Albert County on Monday.

Also filed under [ Canada]

Turbine catches fire
August 10, 2009 by Jamie Ross in Times & Transcript

One of the 32 wind turbines operating at the Kent Hills wind farm caught fire over the weekend. ...A passer-by saw smoke and called the fire department. Officials haven't been able to confirm the cause of the fire yet. Vestas, the company that supplies the turbines, will have a team on site today to try and determine what happened.

Also filed under [ Canada]

Turbine fire contained and under investigation at Transalta's Kent Hills wind farm
August 8, 2009 by TransAlta Corporation

TransAlta Corporation today announced at approximately 8:00 am (eastern time) a fire occurred at a single turbine located at its Kent Hills wind farm in New Brunswick.

Also filed under [ Canada]

Lightning takes down 127-foot wind blade
July 23, 2009 by Karl Puckett in Great Falls Tribune

Lightning knocked out two wind turbines and sent a massive tower blade crashing to the ground at the Judith Gap Wind Farm last month, the company said Wednesday. Repairs began earlier this month and will continue into September, said Susan Dennison, an Invenergy spokeswoman.

Also filed under [ Montana]

National Geographic Channel films Fenner windmill repair
June 4, 2009 by Maria Welych in The Post-Standard

A Fenner windmill will be featured on the National Geographic Channel. Crews from the network's "World's Toughest Fixes" program visited the top of the Bellinger Road hill this week to film blade repairs on one of the turbines at the Fenner Wind Farm. ...The blade damage was attributed to lightning strikes, insects, precipitation and air resistance. The cracks in the 10-year-old blade got a little bigger since they were first reported, said Kevin Thompson of Skala.

Also filed under [ New York]

Locust Ridge wind turbine fire still under investigation
May 22, 2009 by Stephen J. Pytak in Republican Herald

The May 14 fire at the skyscraper-size Turbine 12 at the Locust Ridge I commercial wind farm in Mahanoy Township occurred during routine maintenance, according to a company official. Jan Johnson, corporate communications director for Iberdrola Renewables in Portland, Ore., which owns the wind farm, said Thursday that Turbine 12 is still shut down. When asked how the fire started, she said, "We're still investigating."

Also filed under [ Pennsylvania]

Cracked blades lead to likely showdown between town, First Wind
May 19, 2009 by Bob Clark in The Evening Tribune

With construction ramping up again unexpectedly in Cohocton, town officials are looking at their legal options in keeping the work by developer First Wind in line with agreements signed between the parties - even if it means a court date. Town Supervisor Jack Zigenfus announced at Monday night's town board meeting major work is being performed on the 50-turbine wind-powered electricity generation project on Pine, Lent and Dutch hills.

Also filed under [ New York]

Report of wind turbine fire draws crews
May 15, 2009 by Stephen J. Pytak and Frank Andruscavage in Republican Herald

Firefighters responded to a report of a wind turbine fire at the first commercial-size wind farm in Schuylkill County, Locust Ridge I in Mahanoy Township, Thursday afternoon, according to reports from the Schuylkill County Communications Center.

Also filed under [ Pennsylvania]

Firefighters respond to wind turbine fire in Mahanoy Township
May 13, 2009 in Republican Herald

Firefighters responded to a report of a turbine fire at the first commercial-size wind farm in Schuylkill County, Locust Ridge I in Mahanoy Township, Thursday afternoon, according to reports from Schuylkill County Communications. ...In service since March 2007, this G87 turbine is one of the original 13 turbines which was part of the Locust Ridge I.

Also filed under [ Pennsylvania]

Windmill disintegrates
May 11, 2009 by Tina Forde in Tehachapi News

The windturbine that started spinning wildly on May 3 disintegrated two or three days later, according to the California Highway Patrol. All that is left now is a turbine-less twisted tower. The CHP closed Highway 58 for hours after it was notified that the turbine was spinning out of control on Sunday. The closure snarled traffic in the area.

Also filed under [ California]

Windmill manufacturer recalls blades; 10 U.S. installations affected
May 6, 2009 by Nelson Zandbergen in Eastern Ontario Agribusniess

Officials at ReDriven Power Inc. are confident of their young company's continued success, but concede they've recently issued a recall on the blades of 10 turbines installed in the U.S. ..."We did have a blade problem," said president and CEO Joseph Ianni, when The AgriNews paid a visit to the firm's headquarters inside a former textile mill recently.

Also filed under [ Europe]

Suzlon says retrofit of U.S. blades on schedule
May 6, 2009 by Andrew Stern in Reuters

"We're two-thirds complete. It's gone very well and we'll get this done in the next couple of months. We're on schedule," said Duncan Koerbel, chief reliability officer of the Mumbai, India-based company, the third-largest wind turbine supplier in the United States. The company has taken a $35 million charge for the program to replace all 1,200 blades in its previous generation of blades, some of which developed cracking near the base. One blade broke off a turbine in Illinois.

Also filed under [ USA]

Wild windmill shuts down part of Highway 58 indefinitely
May 4, 2009 by Sabrina Rodriguez in Eyewitness News TV 58

A faulty windmill near Tehachapi shuts down all lanes of Highway 58 between highways 202 and 14; and CHP Officers say it could be days before the roadway re-opens. Mojave CHP got the call about the out-of-control windmill located in the Tehachapi Wind Farm a little after 1:20 Sunday afternoon.

Also filed under [ California]

58 still closed by runaway windmill
May 3, 2009 by Gretchen Wenner in Bakersfield Californian

A runaway windmill in Tehachapi closed Highway 58 -- a major east-west freeway connecting California's southern Central Valley to Las Vegas, Nevada and Arizona -- for most of the day Sunday. As of 6:45 p.m., the highway remained closed between Tehachapi and Mojave. Officials had no estimate as to when it might reopen

Also filed under [ California]

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Safety and Structural Failure