NextEra Energy is investigating a turbine blade failure at its 102 MW Goshen Wind Energy Centre, located in the Ontario municipalities of Bluewater and South Huron.
The wind farm, which went online in the beginning of last year, features 63 GE turbines. NextEra spokesperson Steven Stengel tells NAW the incident happened sometime between Sunday night and early Monday morning.
However, details are limited.
Stengel simply says, "A turbine in the project sustained damage," adding, "This is a very rare occurrence, and we're working to understand what happened. This investigation can take several days, if not weeks, so unfortunately we don't know the cause."
The good news is no one was hurt.
Although Stengel could not provide more information, Jodie Bird, another NextEra spokesperson, recently spoke with the Sarnia Observer about the incident.
At press time, Bird was not available for comment, but the Sarnia Observer report says one of the turbine's 50-meter-long blades ‘snapped’ during a storm, and Bird initially suggested lightning might be to blame for the damage.
"Could it be lightning related? Yes," admits Stengel. "But we don't have the definitive answer at this point."
Bird also reportedly said that the wind farm's 62 other wind turbines remained online following the incident.
Stengel explains, "To repair the [affected] turbine, we will need to mobilize a crane, similar to what was used when the blades were assembled, and locate another blade to replace the damaged one. This again will also take several days."
At press time, requests for comment from GE were not returned.
