Turbine catches fire at Ransonmoor wind farm in Cambridgeshire

A 2MW Gamesa G80-2.0 turbine at the Ransonmoor wind farm in Cambridgeshire caught fire on the morning of 30 May 2018, after thunderstorms passed over the east of England. Two fire crews from Cambridge Fire and Rescue Service were called at 7.50am and found the turbine well alight, with debris falling to the ground. Firefighters remained on standby while the nacelle was left to burn out, and the service said no firefighting action was required. Footage shot by firefighters showed the nacelle burned out, one blade still burning, smoke damage at the base of the tower and smoke drifting across the surrounding countryside. All crews had returned to their stations by 10.45am. The fire service said the cause of the fire was unknown, though thunder and lightning had been forecast for the area overnight. The site is co-owned by Ecogen and Thrive Renewables; the turbine manufacturer said it was aware of the incident but that it was inappropriate to comment until further details had been established.

Thunderstorm and lightning activity was forecast for the region overnight before the fire, though the fire service stated the cause of the fire was unknown at the time of reporting.

1. Turbines in areas forecast for severe thunderstorms may benefit from checks of lightning protection systems and of fault records after storm passage.
2. Nacelle fires at height are often beyond the reach of ground crews, so response plans should cover controlled burn-out, a debris exclusion zone and protection of surrounding vegetation.
3. Where the cause is not immediately known, preserving footage, SCADA and alarm data supports later root cause analysis across a fleet of identical turbines.

windpowermonthly.com/article/1466176/gamesa-turbine-catches-fire-uk-wind-farm