'Defects' in Siemens Gamesa 4.X turbines cause partial shut-down of wind project

A wind farm operator has claimed that manufacturing defects in more than a dozen Siemens Gamesa 4.X turbines led to a partial shut down at its onshore wind project in Norway.

The 163MW Odal Vind onshore wind farm, in Norway near the Swedish border, is comprised of 34 Siemens Gamesa SG 4.X turbines according to Windpower Intelligence. It is co-owned by Norwegian power firm Akershus Energi (51%), renewables developer Cloudberry (33.4%) and pension fund KLP (15.6%).

The project is operated by Odal Vindkraftverk, which disclosed the turbine problems.

Lars Tallhaug, CEO of Odal Vindkraftverk, told Windpower Monthly that 13 out of the 34 turbines at the project were not working, while another two were being repaired.

'Quality issues'

He said: “The main reason...that they are stopped [is] due to damages caused by manufacturing defects of the blades. Another two turbines are currently stopped due to other issues with ongoing repairs.”

Tallhaug added: “The blade damages are mainly related to production quality issues.”

Siemens Gamesa has faced quality control issues related to components in its 4.X and 5.X onshore wind turbines. These contributed to substantial financial losses and parent company Siemens Energy fired  'those responsible'.

Tallhaug said the problems with the Siemens Gamesa turbines were discovered in 2023, after they had been installed and were operating, which led to a partial shut down at the project.

“This is a matter of damage within the period of guarantee of the contract and Odal Vindkraftverk is working closely with the supplier in terms of the repair work,” The repair work is expected to continue "well into 2024".

A spokesperson for Siemans Gamesa said: "We are in constant communication with our client to implement the repairs progressively."