Wind turbine blade breaks off! PDF Print E-mail

Danger claim as turbine blade snaps off

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(c) Berwickshire News
On 14 April 2005 the Berwickshire News published an article that wind farm operators of Crystal Rig Wind Farm in the Lammermuirs are to investigate why a 40 metre blade from one of its state-of-the-art turbines suddenly shattered the previous week. Anders Falkfjell, operations manager at Crystal Rig, confirmed the incident saying: "It's true that one of them has broken and we are investigating that at the moment. It's not normal and I have not seen it before myself but I know that it has happened at other wind farms." Parts of the blade broke off and only a fraction of it remained attached to the tower. 

 

The remaining 19 turbines had shutdown by the time the accident was discovered but these were restarted after checks were carried out. There was no one on site or near the area at the time of the incident. News of the incident has led campaigners opposed to further wind farm development in the Lammermuir Hills to question the safety of wind technology.

 


Kate Knight, chairman of the Lammermuir Protection Group, said: "You can only imagine the horrific consequences if someone were in the vicinity at the time. Rights of way including historical routes such as the Herring Road and Southern Upland Way run through or near wind power sites both planned and operational, including Crystal Rig, Blaci Hill and Fallago Ridge. These are clearly not safe places to go if broken turbine parts can be flung for hundreds of metres. Large tracts of the Lammermuirs could become no-go areas."

 

Some residents living near Crystal Rig believe the blade snapped because the conditions were too windy. Usually in such circumstances the turbines shutdown but villagers reported seeing one of the windmills "spinning wildly" while the others were motionless. Ms Knight said that during the recent strong winds, the wind turbines at Crystal Rig were motionless for days,  it was just too windy for them to work. She continued "Most people are aware that wind turbines don't operate when there is little or no wind - as on those cold, frosty days in winter when we need them most. What they may not know is that in strong winds over around 50-55 mph, turbines must be shut down for safety reasons."

A spokesman for Natural Power, the agent for Fred Olsen Renewables which developed and operated the wind farm at the time of the incident said: "There's a wind speed range within which the turbines will operate. Obviously, if the wind is not high enough they won't turn but there's also an issue when the wind speed is too high and it would not be safe for them to operate so they automatically close down. This happens in particularly gusty conditions and is simply a safety mechanism." If you would like to read the article in full click here.