Wind turbine tower collapses at Salty Brine State Beach, Narragansett, Rhode Island

A 100 foot lattice tower supporting a wind turbine at Salty Brine State Beach in Narragansett, Rhode Island, collapsed during a nor'easter on 14 March 2017. Winds in the area reached more than 50 miles an hour, and the tower buckled and folded over, with the turbine blades left lying in the snow. The turbine, reported as owned by the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, generated enough electricity to power the beach's bathhouse, which was remodelled in 2010 at a cost of nearly $2 million. No injuries were reported. The state governor addressed the collapse at a news conference and said repairing the turbine would be a priority once the storm passed.

Reporting attributes the collapse to sustained storm winds exceeding 50 miles per hour during a nor'easter, which caused the lattice tower to buckle. No engineering investigation findings have been published.

1. Small distributed wind turbines supporting public facilities should be assessed for structural resilience against extreme wind loading beyond standard design thresholds.
2. Lattice tower designs may be vulnerable to buckling in severe storm conditions, and periodic structural inspections should account for cumulative weather exposure.
3. Emergency response and repair plans should be prepared in advance for distributed generation assets serving public facilities, to limit downtime after storm damage.

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