Wind turbine collapses at Butler Ridge Wind Farm in Wisconsin

A wind turbine at the Butler Ridge Wind Farm near the Town of Herman in Dodge County, Wisconsin, collapsed on a Wednesday night, with the tower and blades falling and scattering debris across a field. Nobody on the ground was injured. The turbine is owned by NextEra Energy. In a statement, the company said it believed the event was an isolated incident, noting that turbine malfunctions are rare, and confirmed it was working to determine the cause of the failure while assessing other turbines at the site as a quality-control measure.

The cause of the turbine failure had not been determined at the time of reporting; NextEra Energy stated it was investigating.

1. Operators should maintain clear public communication protocols for structural failures, including prompt safety statements.
2. Following any single turbine failure, a site-wide inspection of comparable units is a prudent precaution to rule out shared design or maintenance issues.
3. Wind farm siting and safety buffers should account for the possibility of full structural collapse, not just blade throw, to protect people and property on the ground.

News report via Google News