Vestas turbine collapses in high winds at Loughderryduff wind farm, Donegal

What happened

A Vestas V52-850kW wind turbine at the Loughderryduff wind farm, near Ardara and Glenties in County Donegal, collapsed at approximately 17:00 on 21 March 2013 during what Vestas described as very high winds, reported at around 25 m/s (56mph). Wreckage was strewn over a wide area. No one was injured. Vestas, the turbine manufacturer, confirmed the collapse and said the remaining eight V52-850kW turbines at the site were shut down as a precaution while its technicians attended, and that the situation was under control.

Vestas said a thorough investigation would be conducted with an independent third party to establish the root cause, and that it could not speculate on the cause until that was complete. The site is owned by North West Wind Limited. Local people noted that the collapsed turbine stood on a flat plain about 50m above sea level, lower than other turbines proposed nearby.

Contributing factors

Wind speeds of approximately 25 m/s (56mph) were reported at the time of the collapse. The root cause had not been established at the time of reporting and was the subject of a pending investigation by Vestas with an independent third party.

Lessons learned

1. A Vestas V52 turbine collapse in winds of 25 m/s requires operators to review structural and wind loading assumptions for the same model across their fleet.
2. After one V52 turbine fails in high winds, shut down other V52 units at the same site until checks are complete.
3. Structural failure of a V52 turbine needs an independent third-party root cause study to inform other owners of the model.

More lessons on structural integrity and turbines, from every incident on the register.

Not yet known

• Root cause of the collapse
• Turbine age and service history
• Duration of site shutdown
• Cost of damage and debris removal

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

Source

donegaldaily.com