In the district of Uelzen, the blade of a wind turbine broke off during a storm and fell to the ground. An investgation is called for to determine the cause of the incident.

Safety Structural Failure Germany

LAHR Germany -  Early Friday morning at 2.30 am police reported a turbine fire on the Langenhard near Lahr. At the same time, the Integrated Control Center Ortenau received the message that a wind turbine was burning on the Langenhard. The fire had already been seen on the way to the equipment house of the Seelbach Fire Department, said Operations Manager Bernd Wagner. This was his second wind turbine fire. The first was in 2013 - also on the Langenhard. Efforts to extinguish the fire remain highly dangerous because of the height of the turbine and the falling debris. Therefore, the fire department has cordoned off a radius of 500 meters, according to Wagner. A police helicopter was also requested to take survey photos and look for possible forest fires. The fire is over but the work is still ongoing. The fire department is preparing for a long operation.

Safety Structural Failure Germany

Germany saw a sharp fall in the number of new onshore wind turbines installed last year, industry groups said on Tuesday, and warned there was little prospect of a recovery without government help.

Energy Policy Germany

This paper examines the impact of wind turbines on residential property values. The abstract of the paper is provided below. The full paper can be accessed at the document link(s) on this page.

Property Values Germany

A study by the RWI - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research shows that wind turbines can lead to falling prices of single family homes in the immediate vicinity. The value of a house one kilometer away from a wind turbine drops on average by a good 7 percent. For the study, the RWI has evaluated almost 3 million sales offers 

Property Values Germany

If the annual energy balance for renewables is more positive from year to year, then such celebration is based on a very one-sided view of pure production volumes. Little is said about the contribution of renewables to a reliable power supply.

Energy Policy Germany

A spectacular accident on Monday morning: In a field between Gau-Bickelheim and Wallertheim near the A61 motorway, the almost 55-meter-long and ten-ton blade of a wind turbine was broken off shortly before 8 o'clock and crashed onto an adjacent field. Persons were not injured in the incident, fire department and police secured the accident site.

Safety Structural Failure Germany

A Kenersys K110 2.4 megawatt wind erected in 2012-2013 experienced a catastrophic blade failure. The blade was nearly 55-meters long. The turbine has a hub height of 145 meters and rotor diameter 109 meters.

Safety Structural Failure Germany

This small increase was reflected in its power generation figures, as renewables produced 6.2TWh between 1 January and 30 September in 2017, and 6.3TWh this year. However, Innogy explained that "particularly low wind levels, especially in the second and third quarters of 2018 in the UK and Germany, led to reduced utilisation of existing plants".

General Germany UK

Important 28-minute documentary by the science program “planet e.” presented on the second German television ZDF. Special thanks to Friends Against Wind for bringing this to our attention.

Impact on People Noise Germany

Medical and scientific evidence is increasing that not only some animals, but also humans are able to perceive infrasound below the hearing threshold. This is not surprising actually, because "infrasound is an energy," explains Prof. Vahl, "And every energy has physical effects, whether you hear it or not." 

Impact on People Noise Germany

Proposals to allow states to set their own setback rules and to abolish wind farms' privileges under German building laws have been presented to the federal council. North Rhine-Westphalia and Brandenburg’s suggestions were discussed in the country's upper house, the Bundesrat, on 19 October and could be voted on in December, according to the German wind energy association (BWE).

Impact on People Germany

A police spokesman reported that the fire initially broke out in the nacelle at around 3 o'clock on Friday morning and spread to the entire turbine. One blade of the wind turbine fell off after a short time while large parts of a second blade followed. Although the third blade did not burn, it threatened to fall after the nacelle was largely destroyed. 

Safety Structural Failure Germany

Wind turbine manufacturer, Juwi, won permission to erect twelve wind turbines in Reesdorfer Heide near Beelitz. Wind power opponents and the city have tried to prevent the project for years. 

General Germany

Erecting a few wind turbines on privatized, once communist farmland doesn't entitle Germany to claw back potentially lucrative power earnings, a top appeal court has ruled. It's voided part of a 2005 land sales contract.

Legal Germany

Baur calculates: Since 2016, there have been 16 fires, 15 blade and nacelle accidents and 4 tower damages involving wind turbines in Germany. With tons of equipment and high rotor speeds, there is a "high risk potential for people and buildings in the area".

Safety Structural Failure Germany

This news segment from the German television program “Hessenschau” examines how all wind turbines in Hesse in Germany must be checked because of the noise they make. THe show aired on August 8, 2018. English subtitles are by Vind-Alarm-Danmark.eu and Friends-Against-Wind.org. 

Impact on People Noise Germany

If extrapolated to all of Britain’s wind farms it would mean 80,000 die each year from colliding with the blades. The number increased with blade length with some individual turbines responsible for the deaths of five bats each month.

Impact on Bats Europe Germany UK USA

The mystery of why more than 80,000 bats are killed by wind turbines in the UK each year may finally have been solved. Scientists found the winged creatures are naturally drawn to sources of red light – an attraction that can confuse them on migration routes.

Impact on Bats Europe Germany UK USA

The manufacturer’s orders for both services and projects increased in the first half of 2018. ...Despite the increase in orders, Blanco added the company expects 2018 and 2019 "to remain challenging" due to "fierce competition" and "pressure on prices".

General Germany