Vestas turbine nacelle fire at Ardrossan wind farm during storm

What happened

A Vestas 2MW wind turbine at the 30MW Ardrossan wind farm in Ayrshire, Scotland, caught fire in its nacelle during a severe storm that brought winds of up to 165mph to the northern half of the UK. The owner, Infinis Energy, confirmed the nacelle had caught fire but was unable to give further details on the cause. No one was present when the incident happened, as staff are always evacuated from the site in winds above 55mph as a precautionary measure.

ScottishPower, which operates the local network, disconnected the wind farm from the grid. Infinis had acquired the project a year earlier from Scottish and Southern Energy. The project was commissioned in 2004 and received a 6MW extension in 2009. An image of the burning turbine, sent in to the BBC by a member of the public, was reproduced in the UK press to illustrate the weather conditions.

Contributing factors

Extreme wind speeds of up to 165mph during a severe storm. The mechanical or electrical cause of the nacelle fire was not reported.

Lessons learned

1. A Vestas nacelle fire during high winds needs early remote detection and isolation, because staff are evacuated above 55mph and cannot reach the site.
2. Network operators must be ready to disconnect a wind farm quickly when a turbine catches fire, to limit damage to the grid.
3. Turbines left unmanned in storms still face nacelle fire risk, so owners need robust remote monitoring and shutdown systems.

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

Not yet known

• Mechanical or electrical cause of the fire
• Downtime after the incident
• Cost of repairs or lost output

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

Source

Windpower Monthly (windpowermonthly.com)