Blaze destroys Vestas turbine at Iowa wind project

Blaze destroys Vestas turbine at Iowa wind project | Windpower Monthly

Images and footage of the incident published by local news station KCCI showed plumes of smoke billowing from the turbine, as flames burned through the nacelle and one of its blades, which then crashed to the ground.

Nobody was injured during the incident.

Reports said emergency responders did not have adequate equipment to reach the fire, which subsequently destroyed the nacelle. An eyewitness said the smoke from the fire was visible up to 16km away.

The fire happened at the Arbor Hill section of energy company MidAmerican's 2GW Wind X1 project in Iowa. The project uses Vestas V110-2.0 MW.

A spokesperson for Vestas told Windpower Monthly: “On 17 October 2023, a V110-2.0 MW wind turbine caught fire at a wind farm in Iowa, USA. All plant and personnel are safe and accounted for, the site has been secured, and there were no injuries. Once the turbine has been deemed safe to access, Vestas will work with the customer to determine the root cause.”

The spokesperson added: “We are not concerned about the safety of other V110-2.0 MW turbines. Safety is always our priority and provided that normal procedures are followed, it is safe to work in our turbines. The main priority at this point is to determine the root cause for this incident, which is what we’re working on now in close cooperation with the customer.”