Investigation Underway After Wind Turbine Collapses Due to Suspected Lightning Strikes

A view of Wonthaggi Wind Farm in Wonthaggi, Australia, on July 7, 2015. Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

The company behind a Victorian wind farm is investigating after the top part of a wind turbine was dislodged and fell to the ground.

The incident occurred on Feb. 3, where the rotor blades and hub were found next to its tower at the Berrybank Wind Farm, west of Geelong near Melbourne.

Global Power Generation Australia (GPGA) have set up an exclusion zone around the turbine and have stopped all generation while investigations are conducted.

Parent company Vestas responded to inquiries from The Epoch Times to say they were aware of the incident and were investigating the possibility of lightning strikes in the region.

“There were no people near the wind turbine at the time of the incident and there are no reported injuries,” a spokesperson confirmed.

“A preliminary investigation is focusing on lightning strikes in the area during severe storms on (Feb. 3), which caused damage across the state.

“This is currently viewed as an isolated incident.”

Vestas said an incident management team had been formed, with site staff undertaking a detailed assessment of all of the Berrybank wind turbines.

“Vestas and Global Power Generation’s primary focus is the safety and well-being of all site personnel, as well as ensuring that the overall safety of the site is maintained,” the spokesperson said.

“As an investigation is underway, it would be inappropriate to comment further.”

The Clean Energy Regulator said it was unable to comment due to safety and operational matters being a state and territorial responsibility.

A Victorian government spokesperson provided a brief statement to The Epoch Times.

“WorkSafe and Energy Safe Victoria are investigating this incident,” they said.

Call for Audit Amid String of Incidents

Liberal Party MP Richard Riordan is calling on Victoria’s Labor government to insist on stronger safety measures on the state’s wind farms following a string of incidents involving the Victorian wind farm project called Golden Plains Wind Farm.

In September, farmers working within 400 metres of the Golden Plains Wind Farm, 65 kilometres from Geelong, were warned to wear hard hats due to large shards of plastic flying off the mammoth structures following bad weather.

In November, a 36-year-old man died after being crushed beneath a rotor blade from a turbine at the same farm.

On Feb. 4, wind turbine parts were once again found beneath the Golden Plains facility after falling off due to windy weather.

The MP Riordan also listed examples of tower collapses and fires, calling for an audit of the state’s wind turbine developments.

“It has been a bad year for wind turbine safety in our region and this week I have been calling on the government to insist on the same safety monitoring that would apply to any other industrial installations,” he said in a statement.

“I have called on the government to publicly release reports on their fire readiness and after yesterday’s collapse the full report on the safety of towers and why the Berrybank tower came crashing down.”

Riordan’s concerns echo that of environmentalist and mapping expert Steven Nowakowski who told The Epoch Times late last year that more incidents were likely due to a lack of regulation around Chinese-made wind turbine components.

“It’s a huge issue, it’s going to be an ongoing issue,” he predicted in September after the first incident.

Some wind turbines parts, according to Nowakowski, were only affixed with glue.

Riordan also raised concerns about a lack of building permits governing wind farm construction, saying only planning permits were needed.

A planning permit only assesses land use regulations, such as zoning and heritage, and how and where something will be built.

Building permits, on the other hand, ensure that the physical construction of a building has safe foundations, fire safety measures and is structurally sound.