Electric arc sparks nacelle fire and injury at Spanish wind farm

During servicing of a Vestas V90-2.0 MW wind turbine at the Casa del Aire wind farm in El Bonillo, Albacete, an electric arc occurred in the turbine's control cabinet and a fire started in the nacelle. An employee working on the turbine suffered burns to the face and hands and was taken to hospital, later recovering at home. Local sources reported that the fire spread to surrounding scrub in an area susceptible to forest fires, while Vestas said it prevented the fire from spreading. A firefighting team extinguished the flames within a matter of hours. The other 24 turbines on the wind farm continued operating throughout the response. The incident came weeks after a separate nacelle fire, also attributed to an electric arc, on a V112-3.0 MW turbine at Gross Eilstorf in Germany. Vestas said the two events were unrelated and involved different electrical components, and that an investigation into the Spanish arc was ongoing.

Vestas stated that an electric arc originating in the turbine's control cabinet occurred while servicing was being carried out. The cause of the arc was under investigation at the time of reporting.

1. Electrical connections and control cabinets should be inspected and maintained to a high standard to reduce arc fault risk during servicing.
2. Turbines sited in wildfire-prone areas need robust fire containment measures given the risk of fire spreading to surrounding vegetation.
3. Where similar failures occur across a fleet in a short period, operators should seek evidence of a common root cause before concluding that events are unrelated.

renewableenergymagazine.com/wind/vestas-experiences-second-turbine-fire-in-weeks