LOCATION/TYPE

NEWS HOME

[ exact phrase in "" • results by date ]

[ Google-powered • results by relevance ]


Archive
RSS

Add NWW headlines to your site (click here)

Get weekly updates

WHAT TO DO
when your community is targeted

RSS

RSS feeds and more

Keep Wind Watch online and independent!

Donate via Paypal

Donate via Stripe

Selected Documents

All Documents

Research Links

Alerts

Press Releases

FAQs

Campaign Material

Photos & Graphics

Videos

Allied Groups

Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005.

News Watch Home

This wind turbine caught fire and threw a flaming blade dozens of metres 

Credit:  Nicky Ryan | 6 July 2014 | www.thejournal.ie ~~

A flaming wind turbine blade almost sparked a forest fire in Cork after it was thrown several metres from the machine.

The cause of the fire the wind farm in Cork is currently under investigation.

A flaming 28-metre-long blade from one of the turbines flew as far as 100 metres away from the machine and landed close to nearby gorse and forestry.

dscf0514-375x500

The turbine, a Gamesa G58, is a common model in operation across the world, but industry experts say it has ‘a strong safety record’.

The incident occurred at the Cappaboy Beg Wind Farm in Co Cork on 19 June.

A spokesperson for Bantry Fire Station told TheJournal.ie their main aim was to contain this fire, to ensure it didn’t spread to forest and gorse. The turbine was completely destroyed.

They said it took ‘a couple of hours’ to bring the blaze under control due to dry conditions caused by a spell of good weather.

Similar incidents, known as “blade throws”, can often occur during very high wind speeds.

However, this incident, first reported by the Cork News (P10), occurred in relatively calm conditions but during one of the hottest spells so far this year. A peak of 280MWs of electrify was produced on the day of the incident.

Source: EirGrid.ie

Source: EirGrid.ie

Prolific

A source close to manufacturer Gamesa told this website that they are one of the most prolific machines with a ‘great reliability record’, and that there is little suspicion that it was a technical failure.

It is understood an investigation is currently under-way.

The source explained that turbines are complicated industrial equipment containing a large amount of electronics.

“Rare combination”

“You can have a spark and an oily rag, some rare combination like that”, he said, “It was a hot day with little wind and so a lot of dust could have accumulated.”

He added that it is unlikely that blades on these common turbines would be thrown a large distance during a fire.

“They’re made of plastic, and will simply melt,” he said.

“The turbines themselves are build on hardstands consisting of rocks. Any plastic, or other material, that falls down is unlikely to spread.”

Late last year, a Gamesa turbine at a separate farm close to Killybegs was the subject of an investigation after a blade tip snapped off, reNews reports.

However, this incident occurred during high winds.

An owner of the wind farm and the Irish Wind Energy Association both declined to comment on last month’s incident

Source:  Nicky Ryan | 6 July 2014 | www.thejournal.ie

This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.

The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.

Wind Watch relies entirely
on User Funding
   Donate via Paypal
(via Paypal)
Donate via Stripe
(via Stripe)

Share:

e-mail X FB LI TG TG Share


News Watch Home

Get the Facts
CONTACT DONATE PRIVACY ABOUT SEARCH
© National Wind Watch, Inc.
Use of copyrighted material adheres to Fair Use.
"Wind Watch" is a registered trademark.

 Follow:

Wind Watch on X Wind Watch on Facebook

Wind Watch on Linked In Wind Watch on Mastodon