A second blade has broken off a damaged turbine at Energiekontor’s Alfstedt-Ebersdorf wind park in Germany.
The latest incident follows an initial blade failure at the site last week. The project is equipped with eight GE 5.3-158 units.
“In the night of 14 October to 15 October 2023, a rotor blade on a wind turbine at the Alfstedt-Ebersdorf wind park in Lower Saxony off and partially broke off,” said a statement by Energiekontor.
“In this context, the manufacturer, GE Wind Energy GmbH, planned a controlled drop of the rotor blade components still hanging down. The related work started on 26 October,” it added.
“In the late evening of 26 October, another rotor blade on the same wind turbine snapped off during the course of work to bring down the still hanging components of the first damaged rotor blade.
“The wind turbine in question was not in operation at the time of the incident. No personal injuries were caused.
“So far, no debris from the broken rotor blade has been scattered in the immediate surrounding area. The removal work on the fallen debris from the first incident, which has been ongoing since 19 October 2023, has been interrupted for safety reasons.
“Apart from a temporal correlation of the two events mentioned, the cause of the damage is not yet known.
“As the operator of the wind turbine, Energiekontor has requested a statement on the incident and the next steps from the manufacturer by noon today (October 27).
“As already included in our first statement of 16 October 2023, farmers and land owners affected from the first incident can report their damage to Energiekontor. Energiekontor will record and examine the respective matter and endeavour to provide rapid support.”