Gamesa turbine catches fire at UK wind farm

UK: A 2MW Gamesa turbine caught fire after thunderstorms battered England's east coast.

Firefighters were called to the burning G80-2.0 at the Ransonmoor wind farm in Cambridgeshire in the east of England at 7.50am on 30 May.

Two crews from Cambridge Fire & Rescue Service arrived to find the turbine well alight, with debris falling to the ground.

They remained on standby while the nacelle was left to burn out and no firefighting action was required, the service added.

Footage shot by firefighters at the site shows the nacelle of the turbine burned out, one blade still burning, smoke damage at the base of the tower, and smoke billowing out into the Fenland countryside.

All crews returned to their stations by 10.45am.

The cause of the fire is unknown, firefighters said.

However, thunder and lightning was due overnight, according to Weatherquest, a privately owned weather forecasting and analysis company based at the University of East Anglia in Norwich.

In a statement issued earlier today, the turbine’s manufacturer said: "Siemens Gamesa is aware of an incident at the Ransonmooor wind farm in Cambridgeshire.

"The incident is ongoing at a present and it is inappropriate to comment until further details have been established."

A spokeswoman for Thrive Renewables – co-owner of the site – said further updates were likely to be issued later today, but would not say what action had been taken after the fire.

Ransonmoor is co-owned by developer Ecogen and investors Thrive Renewables. It is split in two-phases: the first comprising three Gamesa G80-2.0 turbines, commissioned in 2007, and the second, two Senvion MM82 2MW turbines, which were commissioned one year later.

Last September, Vattenfall had to replace a blade on one of Vestas’ V90-3MW turbines at the Kentish Flats site off the east coast of England following a lightning strike.