Wind farm stopped
Siemens Gamesa turbine loses huge rotor blade
April 11, 2024, 1:52 p.m
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34 Siemens Gamesa turbines work in a wind farm near Oslo. Most recently, almost half of them were off the grid because of defective rotors. Now a wind turbine loses a 72 meter long rotor blade. The reasons are still unclear. But the manufacturer has been having massive problems for a long time.
A wind turbine manufactured by Siemens Energy subsidiary Gamesa has lost a 72-meter-long rotor blade in Norway. According to an Odal Vind spokesman, no one was injured in the incident at the Odal wind energy park around 90 kilometers northeast of Oslo. The 22-tonne rotor blade that crashed was part of a Siemens Gamesa 5.0-145 turbine, which belongs to the 4.X platform of the Spanish Siemens Energy subsidiary Gamesa, the spokesman said.
Gamesa has been struggling with quality problems in the onshore wind turbine business for years, and the 4.X platform is also affected. The Spanish company caused the parent company billions in losses. “As is usual in such cases, we started the safety protocol and stopped the turbines in the wind farm; no one was harmed,” said a spokesman for Siemens Energy. “We now have to calmly investigate the cause; we are in contact with the customer for this purpose.” He did not comment on details of the facility and possible consequences.
The group had withdrawn its onshore types 4.X and 5.X from the market after quality defects. In March, Siemens Energy said it wanted to put the revised versions on sale as quickly as possible. The company will determine when that will be the case.
It is still too early to say what the cause is, said the Odal Vind spokesman. He declined to comment on whether the incident was related to previous quality problems. The wind farm is equipped with 34 Siemens Gamesa SG 5.0-145 turbines, whose rotors each have a diameter of 145 meters. The operator had already declared almost four weeks ago that 15 of these wind turbines were out of operation due to cracks in the rotor blades.