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.
Residents shocked by wind-turbine collapse
March 7, 2009 by Andrea VanValkenburg in Press Republican
March 7, 2009 by Andrea VanValkenburg in Press Republican
Many residents were shocked that a massive wind-turbine could come tumbling down and officials say it could take months to learn why one collapsed Friday.
Mike Fellion flew over the wreckage Saturday morning and was amazed to see that pieces of the structure appeared to have been thrown "about a quarter-mile away."
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.
In a statement released by the company Friday, company spokeswoman Maggy Wisniewski confirmed one turbine had collapsed and that a small fire resulted, but she refused to speak on the record with a NewsChannel 5 reporter.
A 50-ton structure fell 246 feet to the frozen ground on Saturday when the blades of a turbine under construction east of Waverly caught wind and started rotating at a speed reaching 60 rpm.
The hub housing the generating components of the Cannon II turbine and the structure's three 177-foot blades collapsed after spinning for hours at the mercy of the wind, says Waverly Light and Power General Manager Diane Johnson.
A gust caught the blades prematurely on Friday.
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."
Part of wind turbine breaks and lands in open field
February 21, 2009 by Danielle Wagner in KWWL TV 7
February 21, 2009 by Danielle Wagner in KWWL TV 7
Part of a wind turbine under construction broke apart Saturday morning.
The problem started Friday when construction crews were installing a second wind turbine for Waverly Light and Power.
During the process, a construction error caused the rotor and blades to start moving in the wind prematurely - spinning uncontrollably and unable to stop until it broke.
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.
Bill Fish wants the Municipality of Chatham-Kent to investigate homemade windmills after his neighbour's device came crashing through his roof during yesterday's high winds.
He was shocked awake around 3 a.m. when an eight-foot-long wooden blade penetrated the roof, before piercing through the ceiling and wall in a sewing room of his Dufferin Avenue home, located outside of Wallaceburg in Chatham Township.
Also filed under [
Ohio]
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.
UFO wind turbine 'broke due to mechanical failure not collision with flying object'
February 10, 2009 by Matthew Moore in Telegraph.co.uk
February 10, 2009 by Matthew Moore in Telegraph.co.uk
A 65 ft blade that flew off the turbine came loose after bolts attaching it to the hub failed, not because of a collision, examination of the components has revealed. ..."The bolt failure was the effect not the cause of the problem. They have ruled out bolt fatigue and design problems, and we know that they were properly put on," said Dale Vince the co-founder of Ecotricity, which owns the farm.
A wind turbine at Perkins High School fell apart Saturday. ...He looked next door, where the three wind turbines at Perkins High School were spinning in Saturday's high winds, to see part of a turbine blade fly off and land in the student parking lot.
A wind farm turbine caught fire at the Cathedral Rocks Wind Farm in the early hours of Tuesday morning. ...The company said yesterday it expects the damage bill to be about $2 million, but it would determine an exact amount when it finishes its investigation.
Also filed under [
Safety|
Australia / New Zealand]
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]
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]
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]
Windmill repair update; A city investigation continues
January 29, 2009 by Jackie Devereaux in Desert Valley Star
January 29, 2009 by Jackie Devereaux in Desert Valley Star
City officials continue to investigate and keep tabs on how a Florida power company is meeting requirements for repairing their damaged and malfunctioning windmills here. ...FPL/NER owns and operates approximately 60 wind turbines in question. It's astonishing that there is a reported 40 percent that are malfunctioning, in disrepair, or need maintenance.
Also filed under [
Safety|
California]
Work to get the wrecked 'UFO' wind turbine up and running at Conisholme wind farm is underway.
Despite the explanation as to why one of the baldes 'fell' and another was left bent still being unknown, workers are at the site and in the next few days, all three 65ft blades and the central hub will be replaced.
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.
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.
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