www.windaction.org

Reality sinks in for wind project; Turbine shut down for foundation fix
February 25, 2012 by John Zaremba in Boston Herald

Massachusetts Water Resources Authority honchos and engineers met yesterday to figure out a fix for the $4.7 million wind turbine, which started turning in October, only to power down last month when crews discovered it had settled about 2 inches, agency officials said. Possible causes, they said, include soil conditions and vibrations from a sudden shutdown triggered by high winds.

Also filed under [ Massachusetts]

Close inspection yields little about wind turbine fire
February 16, 2012 by Miranda Orso in Press Republican

Noble Environmental Power brought in a basket crane recently to get a closer look at the damage caused to a wind turbine in Altona Wind Park on Jan. 29. "What they were able to see when they were up there was limited," said John Bahouth, Noble's vice president of human resources and communications.

Also filed under [ New York]

Wind-turbine fire under investigation
January 31, 2012 by Shaun Kittle in Press-Republican

Flames were consuming the top portion of a wind turbine behind the Rand Hill Dairy Farm, which is across the street from their house. "The fire caught one of the blades and made it look like a Roman candle," Phil said. "There was a snow squall that night, but we could see the flames burning right through it."

Also filed under [ New York]

Kirklees Council suspends turbine planning applications after blades fly off windmills
January 31, 2012 by Barry Gibson in Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Kirklees Council yesterday suspended planning applications for a type of windmill manufactured by Brighouse firm Evoco Energy. The move came after high winds ripped blades from the company's turbines in Hepworth and Upper Cumberworth earlier this month.

Also filed under [ UK]

More trouble with wind turbines
January 20, 2012 in Shropshire Star

An 82ft high wind turbine which was controversially given planning permission near Shrewsbury last year came crashing to the ground in high winds. The wind turbine, on private farmland in the Wattlesborough area, fell yesterday afternoon.

Also filed under [ UK]

Engineers investigate after wind turbine ripped apart
January 13, 2012 in Shropshire Star

"Apparently some Dolfor residents reported hearing a big bang over Christmas, which one could wonder - was it the noise of the turbine exploding or hitting the ground? "Walking tracks meander through this windfarm. "It goes without saying that this distance should be greater and that turbines should be nowhere near public footpaths.

Also filed under [ UK]

Shaky foundations for offshore wind farms
January 11, 2012 by Chris Rhodes in Forbes Magazine

The U.K. plans to get one quarter of its electricity from offshore wind by 2020. However, to place this in perspective, at around 11 GW of generating power, at least 7,000 turbines will need to be installed (ignoring for a moment the inconsistency of supply) and it being the start of 2012, this must be done at a rate of 2-3 per day which is an acutely challenging undertaking.

Also filed under [ UK]

Wind turbine blades fly off in storm
January 7, 2012 by Louise Gray in The Telegraph

Ryan Gill, of manufacturers Evoco, blamed the exceptionally strong winds for the damage. ...Fraser McLachlan, the chief executive of GCube, a wind turbine insurer, said "It does happen but by the very nature of where wind farms are - they are usually in very sparsely populated spots and therefore the risk of damage to property or to people risk is very very low," he said.

Also filed under [ UK]

In high winds 15ft-long turbine blades flew off three structures in 112mph winds
January 6, 2012 by Tamara Cohen in Daily Mail

First there were the wind farms that had to be shut down if it got a bit blowy. Then there was the turbine that burst into flames in a gale a month ago. And now three turbines have been wrecked in the latest bout of rough weather - sweeping away any remaining illusions that strong winds simply mean more electricity being generated.

Also filed under [ UK]

Controversial wind turbine's blade crashes to ground
January 6, 2012 in The Northern Times

The mangled remains of the fibreglass blade were found lying some 18m from the 6kw wind turbine sited 90m to the south-east of Rhue Stoer Community Hall, Assynt. It is thought to have flown off overnight on Hogmanay, leaving the structure in a fragile state with its hub cap hanging down and its tail fin pointing upwards.

Also filed under [ UK]

Gamesa and wind farms in US court battle over 'turbine defects'
December 19, 2011 by Oliver Wagg Brisbane in Recharge News

Five US wind projects owned by Australia’s Infigen Energy are engaged in legal actions with turbine-manufacturer Gamesa over the bill for repairs and lost production resulting from various warranty-related disputes. The most significant is Infigen’s claim that Gamesa should accept liability for $34.5m of turbine repairs at its Kumeyaay Wind Farm

Also filed under [ USA]

Gamesa and wind farms in US court battle over 'turbine defects'
December 19, 2011 by Oliver Wagg in Recharge News

Four other of Infigen's US projects that use Gamesa turbines - Allegheny Ridge and Bear Creek in Pennsylvania, and GSG and Mendota in Illinois - are also making warranty-related claims totalling $16.6m. The projects claim that the blades on Gamesa's G87 turbines suffer from "design and manufacturing defects".

Also filed under [ USA]

Blown away: gales wreck wind turbines as Scottish storm wreck havoc
December 9, 2011 by Donna Bowater and Rowena Mason in The Telegraph

A 100-metre tall wind turbine burst into flames in North Ayrshire, and in Coldingham in the Scottish Borders, a turbine crashed to the ground yards from a road. "We see turbine fires around the world when it gets very, very windy," he said. "They usually shut themselves off as a safety feature if the wind gets too much. But sometimes there is another failure.

Also filed under [ UK]

Too windy for wind turbines! 165mph gales raise MORE questions about wind farms as gusts leave trail of destruction across country
December 8, 2011 by Luke Salkeld in Daily Mail

Scottish and Southern Energy refused to disclose how many of its turbines were affected. A spokesman for National Grid said: ‘At lunchtime today, 1,500MW of electricity that was expected to be generated by wind farms in Scotland wasn't being produced, although we can't tell if that's all down to the high winds or wind farms just deciding not to generate.

Also filed under [ UK]

Ultimate wind power destroys turbine at Scapegoat Hill
December 1, 2011 in Huddersfield Daily Examiner

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. It fell down on Tuesday when squalls are thought to have reached 80mph on the top of hills and moors.

Also filed under [ UK]

Lightning is nemesis of windmills, threatening Japan's renewable energy campaign
November 4, 2011 in Mainichi Japan

But no definite way to solve the problem is in sight and operators of these windmills are struggling to cope with lightning-caused breakdowns that threaten their operations. On Oct. 2, a fire broke out at the Sarakitomanai wind farm in Wakkanai.

Also filed under [ Asia]

Repair resumes on wind turbines in Waverly
November 3, 2011 by Jim Offner in Cedar Valley Business

The job ground to a halt after workers for Industrial Contract Services placed a 17-ton rotor assembly atop the 246-foot tower. A blast of wind spun the blades prematurely, according to Waverly Light and Power, and all but the base of the turbine fell to the ground.

Also filed under [ Iowa]

Drilling rig crippled in accident at wind farm
October 22, 2011 by Ed Targett in Herne Bay Times

It had been carrying out a survey of the seabed for Swedish firm Vattenfall, which wants to increase the size of its Kentish Flats wind farm. Insiders told the Times the leg sheared off when the crew tried to move the "jack-up" barge.

Also filed under [ UK]

Crane collapse causes five deaths and one injury accident
October 11, 2011 by Ding Si in China news agency

Jiuquan City in Gansu, a crane owned by Sinovel Technology (Gansu) Ltd. collapsed killing five people and injuring another. Jiuquan City Information Office informed the media of the accident.

Also filed under [ Asia]

Susan King reacts to wind turbine fire on her Taylor County ranch
October 4, 2011 by Cassandra Garcia in KTXS News

"I'm watching a turbine on my land on fire, throwing fire balls on my property. I think it needs to be very clearly delineated: if you have property and machinery that is the source of a fire that damages someone land or uses someone's resources who is responsible for the cost," said King. (See video at source link)

Also filed under [ Texas]

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