Operations at the 396MW Merkur wind farm in the German North Sea have been partially paused after the discovery of “signs of stress fatigue” on parts of the project’s turbines.
Shareholder TRIG said “routine inspections” have discovered the issue “on certain areas of the support structure of the Helihoist on some” of the GE Haliade 6MW units spinning at the site.
Generation of the project was paused as a “precautionary safety measure”, although a “first batch” of turbines has now been brought back online.
Investigations into the root cause are ongoing.
“The turbines are under warranty and service contract with the manufacturer. Contractual provisions include a mechanism to protect lost revenue whilst turbines are not operational, subject to a cap. It is not currently expected that the cap will be exceeded and therefore no material financial impact is expected to the Company,” said TRIG.
“The project’s dedicated asset management team, with support from the Company’s Managers, is working closely with the manufacturer to identify and put in place a solution that will allow the wind farm to resume operating safely and effectively for the long term.”
TRIG owns 25% of the project, which was brought online in 2019.
In a statement, GE confirmed the discovery of the issue but pointed out the affected areas are “not part of the primary nacelle frame”.
“We are working with our customer to complete a root cause analysis to determine the most appropriate way to address the issue,” said the manufacturer.