Investigation launched into damaged onshore wind turbine blade

Investigations are under way after an installed wind turbine at a German onshore windfarm suffered damage in two separate incidents this month.

Manufacturer GE Vernova confirmed that the renewable energy structure at the Alfstedt-Ebersdorf power farm in northern Germany had sustained damage on 15 and 26 October.

The firm said it was working with the wind farm operator Energiekontor to establish what happened.

A spokesperson for GE Vernova said: "A single wind turbine at the Alfstedt wind farm in Germany experienced a blade incident on 15 Oct.

"A second blade that was damaged in that initial event showed signs of additional damage on 26 October.

"The turbine was not operating after the first incident, and no injuries occurred as a result of either incident. We continue to work with our customer to determine the root cause.”

Energiekontor said work had begun to take down affected elements of the first blade when the second one became damaged.

The operator added in a statement: “Late in the evening of 26 October, another rotor blade on the same wind turbine buckled in the course of the work on the controlled fall of the still-hanging components of the rotor blade that was damaged first.

“The wind turbine in question was not in operation at the time of the event. There were no personal injuries.

“So far, no plastic parts of the bent rotor blade have been scattered in the immediate vicinity.”

NCE understands there are no turbines of the same model as the one damaged in Germany operating in the UK.

A 260m tall, 13MW Haliade-X turbine made by a different business unit within GE Vernova this month became the first of 277 giant offshore turbines to generate power at Dogger Bank A off the Yorkshire coast. There is no suggestion this offshore turbine is in any way linked to the onshore asset damaged in Germany.