News
Category:
Safety and Ohio
The city's motion alleges that representatives of Champaign Wind have failed to contact either CareFlight, a medical helicopter operator, or Grimes Field Airport when determining locations for the turbines, and instead relied solely on a statement from the Federal Aviation Administration that declared that the proposed turbine sites would present "no hazard."
Tests delay operations of Clay's tall turbine; Safety issues remain over switch device
October 2, 2012 by Roberta Redfern in Toledo Blade
October 2, 2012 by Roberta Redfern in Toledo Blade
Oregon City Schools officials had hoped Clay High School's 283-foot-tall wind turbine would have been operating by now ...The turbine, installed to cut the school's electricity costs, began operating on April 29, but Toledo Edison shut it down after a month, after citing safety concerns with a switching gear.
Toledo Edison shut down a 900 kilowatt wind turbine installed at Clay High School in May because it is missing a trip switch that would prevent backfeeding of electrical energy to and from Edison's substation. The Direct Transfer Trip switch costs $200,000 ...Edison denied a request from the district for a temporary operating permit to run the turbine until the matter could be resolved. "We can't run that risk."
"Vestas has concluded that the root cause of the failure of the initial blade was due to a wrinkle in the carbon fiber of the spar (the support structure of the blade)," the report reads. "This wrinkle caused damage to propagate to the point of failure after the blade experienced high loads for a low number of cycles."
Also filed under [
Structural Failure]
Since April 24th, all 55 of the wind turbines on the wind farm have sat quietly in the fields, blades stopped, as crews try to determine exactly what damaged two blades off a turbine, sending debris raining down on the field below.
The wind farm is owned by EDP Renewables.
For now, the Timber Road II Wind Farm in Paulding County is silent except for investigators trying to determine exactly why two blades from a single turbine were damaged on a windy afternoon April 24. So far, the high winds do not appear to have caused the damage.
Also filed under [
Structural Failure]
Huge chunks of debris from a wind turbine are scattered across a field near Payne, Ohio. So far no one including its owner knows what happened. People passing by have been trying to figure out the cause.
Also filed under [
Structural Failure]
According to a spokesman with EDP Renewables, the turbine, which is located near Payne, had two of its blades sheared early Tuesday afternoon.
Representatives from EDP Renewables have closed the site.
Also filed under [
Structural Failure]
Damaged turbine suspends wind energy production
April 24, 2012 by Rachel Martin and Megan Trent in Indiana News
April 24, 2012 by Rachel Martin and Megan Trent in Indiana News
Around 12:45 Tuesday afternoon, two blades on a turbine were damaged so severely that debris was sent raining down on the field below. ...The owners, EDP Renewables, say while the investigation into what damaged the blades is ongoing, at this point it doesn't appear that strong winds were a factor.
Also filed under [
Structural Failure]
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.
Lightning struck the turbine shortly after midnight, pelting trucks parked below the machine with debris, according to various reports. Wastewater plant personnel successfully shut down the turbine a few hours later, safety personnel said. ...The 400-kilowatt turbine is the second of two erected by NexGen, which became operational in early 2010.
Also filed under [
Structural Failure]
Authorities still investigating arson at wind turbine site
July 15, 2011 by Ed Gebert in Times Bulletin News
July 15, 2011 by Ed Gebert in Times Bulletin News
The investigation into the destruction of a crane at the site of a wind turbine in northern Van Wert County is continuing. The half-million dollar piece of equipment was destroyed by fire during the early morning hours of July 3, and three gas-powered flood lights were smashed by vandals
A Bellevue teen died after an apparent fall from a wind turbine, family and friends say, but police have yet to confirm what happened.
Bellevue police officials said only that they are investigating the death of Ernesto "Ernie" Garcia, 17, who died early Monday at Mercy St. Vincent Medical Center in Toledo.
Also filed under [
Injury]
Semi carrying wind turbine blade gets stuck in downtown Shelby
June 1, 2011 by Linda Martz in Mansfield News Journal
June 1, 2011 by Linda Martz in Mansfield News Journal
Traffic downtown was disrupted Tuesday evening after a truck in a convoy carrying blades for a wind turbine got hung up on the hill in the center of town.
"We basically had Main Street closed for almost six hours," Police Chief Charles Roub said.
Blade comes off wind turbine at Perkins High School
December 1, 2010 by Richard Payerchin in Morning Journal
December 1, 2010 by Richard Payerchin in Morning Journal
This was the second time in two years the school district had a wind turbine fail due to a problem with blades. The turbine that failed this week was not the one that had earlier problems, officials said.
"At this point we're going to take a step back, find out what happened and make decisions from there," Perkins school Superintendent Jim Gunner said.
Also filed under [
Structural Failure]
For the second time in two years, Perkins Schools officials shut down the wind turbines on school property after a mechanical failure.
Also filed under [
Structural Failure]
Aviation consultant questioned in turbine case
November 11, 2009 by Matt Sanctis in Springfield News-Sun
November 11, 2009 by Matt Sanctis in Springfield News-Sun
Attorneys closely questioned an aviation consultant Tuesday, Nov. 10, in a hearing on a proposed wind turbine project in Champaign County.
Thaddeus Brys, a consultant for Aviation Systems Inc., testified before the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio in a hearing on the Buckeye Wind Project, which would build about 70 turbines throughout Champaign County.
Gil Weithman, law director for Urbana, questioned Brys on news that the Federal Aviation Administration recently reduced the number of turbines it considered a presumed hazard.
Wind turbine project slows; Purposed Champaign County wind farm has issues
October 27, 2009 by Erik Zarnitz in WDTN TV
October 27, 2009 by Erik Zarnitz in WDTN TV
With the exception of the shores of Lake Erie, the ridge just to the east of Urbana stretching northward to Bellefontaine, has some of the best potential for wind power generation in the state of Ohio. Which is why Everpower has selected Champaign County for the Buckeye Wind Project. ...Out of those 70 turbines 38 have been flagged by the Federal Aviation Administration as having a potentially negative impact on approaches to Grimes Field on the north and to Weller Airport on the east side of Urbana.
Wind turbines: Airport fix could jeopardize existing flight tool
October 27, 2009 in Urbana Daily Citizen
October 27, 2009 in Urbana Daily Citizen
Grimes Field Manager Carol Hall said there is a concern that placing a "localizer" navigational aid at the municipal airport would put an existing navigational aid in jeopardy.
"About 90 percent of pilots here aren't instrument-rated," said Hall, adding this means they are not certified to use the localizer navigational aid.
Turbine proposal prompts concern by CareFlight pilot, OSP commander
October 16, 2009 by Breanne Parcels in Urbana Daily Citizen
October 16, 2009 by Breanne Parcels in Urbana Daily Citizen
In addition to local residents, emergency first responders are considering how the proposal to site 70 wind turbines in Champaign County will impact them.
The Federal Aviation Administration has issued notices of presumed hazard to navigable airspace for 38 of the proposed sites, noting their potential negative impact on Grimes Field, where a CareFlight hangar is located, and the privately-owned Weller Airport, which was used for a helicopter landing and takeoff to transport a crash victim on Oct. 6.