Wind turbine comes crashing down in strong winds

The company that made the turbines at a site near Bridgend is now investigating

Villagers were woken by a 300ft wind turbine crashing down on a mountainside when it was blown over in strong winds.

The turbine, nearly double the height of Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square, snapped apart in 50mph winds.

People in the village of Gilfach Goch, near Bridgend in south Wales, said the crash sounded like “thunder and lightning”. It woke them at about 6.50am on Monday morning and the sound echoed around the valley below the Pant y Wal wind farm.

Two storms are sweeping in to the UK this week. Motorists have been asked by the National Highways agency to consider whether journeys later this week are absolutely necessary.

Storm Dudley will move across the northern half of the country from Wednesday night into Thursday morning, closely followed by Storm Eunice, which will bring strong winds and the possibility of snow on Friday.

Villagers have been questioning how the turbine could have fallen over during winds of about 50mph and have demanded that officials check the safety of others.

Lydia Stephens, who lives near the turbines, wrote on social media: “A wind turbine fell over in the wind farm in my village this morning and I thought it was thunder and lighting but how the hell does a wind turbine fall over?

“Apparently it was creaking and banging all night before it collapsed and one woman thought it was her neighbour’s tumble dryer.”

Ricky Williams, who also lives in the area, described the sound as “a bang like thunder”.

Aurfron Roberts, a local Labour councillor, called on wind farm owners to carry out checks on turbines.

“It’s a surprise because they are well maintained. There are always maintenance vehicles up there checking the turbines all through the night,” she said.

“The whole village is surrounded by turbines. We have so many projects going on on the hills around her. I’m just glad they are up on the hillside and away from people in case something like this happens.

“I hope this means owners will be extra vigilant and take care. It’s probably just a really unfortunate accident but it’s lucky no one was hurt.”

One resident said: “It was around 7am and fairly dark. My wife has stables about half a mile from the wind farm. She said she heard odd pulsing noises and then heard the crash about 30 minutes later.”

A spokeswoman for Nordex, the wind turbine manufacturer, said: “Unfortunately an incident occurred at the Pant y Wal wind farm in Wales. On Monday, a N90/2500 turbine collapsed. No persons were injured. The only material damage that has occurred as a result of the incident is to the turbine itself.

“All necessary safety measures have been implemented immediately after the incident. A team of local Nordex specialists with experts from Nordex main office are currently investigating the root cause of the incident together with the wind farm owner. As yet, no reliable statement can be made as to the underlying cause of the collapse.”

A blade control system was blamed for the destruction of a Nordex wind turbine in Co Tyrone in 2015. The 320ft turbine, worth £2 million and in operation for four years, collapsed during light winds, with witnesses describing the rotor blades spinning out of control on the evening the turbine buckled.

The sound of the failing mechanical structure was also likened to thunder by locals and was heard more than seven miles away.

Another Nordex turbine collapsed near Essen in western Germany in September last year. The German manufacturer, which erected the turbine in January last year and put it into operation in March, launched an investigation into the cause of the crash.

Rhys Wyn Jones, head of RenewableUK Cymru, a trade association, said it was “extremely rare” for a wind turbine to collapse.

“Over the last three decades it’s happened on a vanishingly small number of occasions,” he said. “No one has ever been injured by a wind turbine operating in the UK. They tend to be sited in remote locations where wind speeds are higher.

“Whenever any technical issue occurs, it’s investigated thoroughly by the industry and lessons are learnt to prevent it from happening in the future”.