News
Category:
Structural Failure
Noble Environmental Power officials say they have detected a "wiring anomaly" in two Altona wind turbines, including the one that snapped in half last Friday.
As the preliminary investigation continues into how a massive turbine suddenly collapsed, Noble officials said this week that the entire wind park experienced a loss of power Friday and that two of its 65 turbines apparently malfunctioned.
U.S. Forest Service officials had a tour scheduled Wednesday afternoon to show off to journalists a pair of recently installed wind turbines.
But they had to cancel the tour when 100 mph winds damaged one of the turbines Tuesday night.
"We were kind of tickled" by the irony, acknowledged Maribeth Pecotte, a spokeswoman in the Forest Service's Boulder Ranger District office. ...The turbine project is costing the Forest Service $171,568 over a 15-year financing contract, Pecotte said.
Also filed under [
Colorado]
3 turbines crash after blades from one break
February 10, 2009 by Richard Payerchin in Morning Journal
February 10, 2009 by Richard Payerchin in Morning Journal
Three wind turbines at Perkins High School crashed Saturday when the blades broke off one of them.
No one was hurt when parts of the fiberglass blades came off the turbine as it spun, winging the blades up to 40 yards away from the silver monopole tower, near the high school at 3714 Campbell St.
The remaining two turbines will not be used until they are inspected and officials figure out what caused the blades to break.
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 [
Safety|
California]
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.
Air Repair: Cracked blade replaced at Corn Plus
October 27, 2008 by Tony Acosta in Faribault County Register
October 27, 2008 by Tony Acosta in Faribault County Register
When it came time to start repairing a wind turbine at the ethanol plant on Oct. 15, the project had to be put on hold. ..."The blade has been cracked all summer. It's been frustrating," says Dan Moore, director of project development for Renewable Energy Solutions.
When the broken blade was discovered, the turbine furthest from the ethanol plant had to be shut down.
All three blades needed to be replaced, says Moore, because we couldn't find one to match the other two.
Ecotricity, which owns the site, are continuing investigations and have said they are not ruling anything out - though the extent of damage was "unique".
To make one of these blades fall off, or to bend it, takes a lot Dale Vince, Ecotricity.
An unexpected problem has occurred with construction of second wind turbine
February 20, 2009 by Waverly Light and Power
February 20, 2009 by Waverly Light and Power
The construction company, ICS of North Dakota, lifted the wind turbine rotor assembly, to which the blades attach, 246 feet high into place late yesterday afternoon. After it was lifted it was discovered the blades were not ‘feathered' or turned properly so they could not catch the wind. In the position the blades are in, the wind caught the blades causing them to spin.
When this was discovered, the Bremer county sheriff's department was notified and all personnel were evacuated, including two homeowners who were outside of the recommended danger zone.
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.
Also filed under [
General|
Pennsylvania]
Bent double: Investigation begins to find out why turbine failed at Beinn an Tuirc
November 16, 2007 in Campbeltown Courier
November 16, 2007 in Campbeltown Courier
A 63-metre tall wind turbine bent in two at Beinn an Tuirc Windfarm last Thursday.
In what has been described as ‘a catastrophic failure’ of the turbine, the tower section has folded in the middle smashing the blades and nacelle into the hillside. It is thought by those in the industry that this is the first time a turbine tower has ever collapsed in the UK and Vestas Celtic, which manufactures towers at its nearby Kintyre factory and Scottish Power owners of the farm have launched an inquiry to find out what went wrong with the Vestas V47 turbine.
"Most windfarms are near roads, railways, or walking paths, and the dangers are obvious."
Blade breaks off wind tower near Wyanet
October 23, 2008 by Karen Newby and Matt Buedel in Journal Star
October 23, 2008 by Karen Newby and Matt Buedel in Journal Star
A wind turbine blade came crashing to the ground Wednesday, halting energy production at a small-scale wind farm southwest of Wyanet because of what may be a defective design.
In all, four turbines on Richard Shertz's property - all part of the AgriWind facility in central Bureau County - have stopped turning after a blade on top of one of the towers broke off about 9:30 a.m.
"It was the loudest noise I've ever heard," he said. "I thought it was thunder."
Damaged rotor blades and forex losses caused the world's fifth-largest wind turbine maker Suzlon Energy post a consolidated net loss of Rs 34.90 crore for the quarter ended December 2008 against a Rs 142.8 crore profit in the corresponding previous quarter. ...Cracks were detected in 170 of the 1,250 blades for 400 turbines of the S88 V2 model supplied by Suzlon in 2007 to two of its major clients in the US -- Edison International and John Deere.
Also filed under [
Impact on Economy|
Asia]
Shortly after 9 a.m. Wednesday, a rotating blade on a wind turbine at Schertz's farm broke off, plunging to the earth in a cornfield about 150 feet west of the turbine. ...The spokesperson said the investigation into this turbine had just started, but the company was in the middle of a blade retrofit program across the United States to correct an "unfortunate" design issue in the first generation of this blade.
One of the three 60-foot-tall wind turbines at the edge of the Perkins High School student parking lot lays on the ground. The pole was removed from the 4-foot deep, 60-ton concrete base. ..."We have no updates," he said. "The manufacturer is finalizing the investigation as to the malfunction of the blades."
Cable repairs put offshore wind farm back into production
August 29, 2008 in The Journal - Newcastle-upon-Tyne
August 29, 2008 in The Journal - Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Britain's first offshore wind farm - located half a mile off the Northumberland coastline - should soon be producing energy again after standing idle for more than two years.
Green power company E.ON is on the verge of completing the installation of a new armoured cable which will allow the blades on the two turbines off Blyth to start turning again for the first time since early 2006.
Also filed under [
UK]
Call for Conisholme wind farm to be closed; Ecotricity say there is no danger to the public
January 7, 2009 in Louth Leader
January 7, 2009 in Louth Leader
A call has been made for the Conisholme wind farm to be closed - before someone is injured.
Coun Robert Palmer, Chairman of East Lindsey District Council, says the site should be closed off to the public while an independent health and safety investigation is carried out.
On Sunday morning local people woke to find a blade on one of the 89 metre high wind turbines in Fen Lane had broken off.
A $6 million wind turbine has caught fire near Port Lincoln, starting blazes on the ground as embers fall.
The fire, at the Cathedral Rocks Wind Farm about 30km southwest of the town, was first noticed by a boat about 1am.
Also filed under [
Safety|
Australia / New Zealand]
A SHETLAND wind farm will carry on operating despite the collapse of a turbine identical to the ones they are using.
A 200 foot high Vestas V47 turbine was bent in half during storms at Scottish Power's 26 megawatt wind farm, at Beinn an Tuirc, in Argyll and Bute, last week.
This site and two others owned by Scottish Power, in the Borders and Ayrshire, had their turbines shut down as a precaution until the cause of the problem is investigated fully by engineers. ..."The safest thing we can do unless otherwise advised by Vestas is to let these things work the way they are supposed to work.
"Until we know what caused that turbine to fall over it would be almost dangerous to speculate."
Cracked blades lead to likely showdown between town, First Wind
May 19, 2009 by Bob Clark in The Evening Tribune
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.
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