Turbine tower collapses at Walkaway wind farm after steel crack

What happened

In June 2022, turbine 43 at the Alinta Wind Farm in Walkaway, Western Australia, collapsed. The site operator, Iberdrola, launched a root cause analysis investigation, consulting its global technical team and operations and maintenance providers. Although the investigation was not yet finalised at the time of reporting, Iberdrola stated it believed the failure was caused by a crack in the turbine's steel tower. The entire plant, comprising 54 Vestas V82 wind turbines, was inspected internally and externally, including detailed analysis of the steel towers.

By early October 2022, around four months after the collapse, the wind farm was reported to be operating at near full capacity. The failed turbine had been dismantled and removed from site, while four other turbines were identified as requiring repairs before they could be returned to service.

Contributing factors

A crack in the turbine's steel tower was identified by the operator as the likely cause of the collapse, though the root cause analysis had not been finalised at the time of reporting.

Lessons learned

1. Steel cracks in wind turbine towers can cause collapse, so operators should add detailed tower scans to routine inspections.
2. After one tower failure, the whole site needs inspection to find other turbines at risk of the same defect.
3. Early sharing of preliminary findings lets other operators of the same model check their assets without delay.

More lessons on structural integrity and turbines, investigation and fleet-wide checks, from every incident on the register.

Not yet known

• Root cause of the steel crack
• Age and service history of turbine 43
• Cost of the collapse and repairs

This entry is updated when these are reported. Get an alert for the next one like it.

Source

geraldtonguardian.com.au