Malfunctioning sensor reported to have caused GE wind turbine collapse in Lithuania

What happened

Windpower Monthly reported on 23 October 2023 that a malfunctioning sensor caused a GE turbine to collapse at a Lithuanian wind farm earlier that year. The report says the wind farm's developer, named in the headline as Enefit, had reached that conclusion. Only the headline and opening sentence were available. The site name, the date of the collapse, any injuries, and the extent of damage are not stated in that text.

Contributing factors

The published lead attributes the collapse to a malfunctioning sensor. It does not say which sensor failed, or how the fault led to the collapse.

Lessons learned

1. A sensor fault that can affect turbine control should be detected and the machine taken out of service before it is left running.
2. After a collapse is attributed to a sensor, operators should check the same sensors on similar turbines.
3. A cause given in a short report should be treated as provisional until the full investigation is available.

Source

Windpower Monthly (windpowermonthly.com)