Wind turbine blades fall and shatter at Hoa Binh wind farm, Vietnam

What happened

On Friday 1 March 2024, at around 5 pm, turbine blades fell from the Hoa Binh Wind Power No. 5 project in Hoa Binh District, Bac Lieu Province, Vietnam. Residents heard a loud noise and some reported seeing blades on the ground. The blades, each reported as 80 metres long, fell from about 140 metres and shattered, with pieces scattered around the crash site. No one was injured. The plant, with a capacity of 80 MW, was inaugurated in April 2022 and has 26 turbine poles over 140 metres high.

The developer, Hacom Bac Lieu Energy JSC, submitted a preliminary report and described its damage estimate of VND200 billion as initial. The official damage figure and the cause were still being reviewed with specialist agencies. The investor stopped the turbines for inspection, and local authorities asked it to carry out regular inspections to prevent similar incidents.

Contributing factors

The cause has not been determined. The source states that the official cause is being reviewed and determined by the investor with specialist agencies.

Lessons learned

1. Blade structural integrity should be verified through inspection regimes that look for cracks, delamination and fatigue, particularly after high winds or storms.
2. Operators should keep an exclusion zone around turbine bases so that falling debris does not endanger people or property.
3. Early public communication and a documented preliminary report help regulators and communities understand the scale of an incident while the root cause investigation continues.

More lessons on weather and external hazards, emergency response and public communication, from every incident on the register.

Source

e.vnexpress.net