Wind turbine nacelle destroyed by fire in Hamina, Finland

What happened

In the early hours of 6 January 2017, a fire broke out in the nacelle of a wind turbine at Paksuniemi in Hamina, southern Finland, part of a six-turbine wind park owned by the municipal utility Haminan Energia. Rescue services were alerted at 01:35. Because the fire was burning roughly 100 metres above ground, firefighters could not reach or fight it directly. They cordoned off the surrounding area due to the risk of falling debris, and the fire largely burned itself out by around 06:30.

The turbine was completely destroyed. The operator said it was too early to estimate the financial loss and confirmed the wider wind park would be shut down temporarily as a precaution, though it stated the incident would not affect regional electricity supply.

Contributing factors

The exact cause of the fire had not been determined at the time of reporting. The incident occurred during a period of extreme cold, with temperatures around minus 20 degrees Celsius, though no direct causal link to the cold was stated by sources.

Lessons learned

1. A nacelle fire at 100 metres height cannot be fought from the ground, so response plans must rest on area cordoning and controlled burnout.
2. Falling debris from a burning nacelle at hub height requires an exclusion zone around the turbine base.
3. A turbine fire in a six-turbine park requires temporary shutdown of co-located turbines for inspection.

More lessons on structural integrity and turbines, maintenance, inspection and ageing assets, from every incident on the register.

Not yet known

• Exact cause of the fire
• Turbine model and age
• Financial loss from the fire
• Duration of the park shutdown

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

Source

yle.fi