Parts of wind turbine fall into German forest - Recharge

Parts of wind turbine fall into German forest | Recharge

Parts of what appears to be a Vestas wind turbine on Sunday fell into a forest area in the wind farm Hainhaus-Bad König in Germany’s Hesse state.

No one was hurt.

According to current findings, two assembly flaps and all three gap covers of the three wind turbine blades fell to the ground for yet unknown reasons, local police said.

Neither the police, nor operator WHS Enertec could immediately confirm the turbine model, but public broadcaster ARD showed a photo of a Vestas turbine. The manufacturer could not immediately comment.

“Late on Sunday morning … walkers reported suspicious noises and observations of a wind turbine that was still rotating in the Hainhaus/Bad-König-Kimbach wind farm area,” the police said its report.

“Larger components were also lying below the system on the ground and in the adjacent forest area.”

The police and fire brigade were immediately dispatched to close the adjacent forest paths and a nearby state road. The turbine was switched off by a technician and shut down as it could not be ruled out that other components would come loose from the machine.

Technicians are being sent to the site of the debris today to determine the possible cause of the damage, the police said.

Christian Schmale from WHS was quoted as saying on ARD that he suspects that "loose parts in the rotation led to the damage” at the 20-year-old turbine.

"This type of defect has actually occurred for the first time."