A 22-metric-ton Siemens Gamesa wind turbine blade fell off machinery at the Odal Vind wind farm in Norway on Wednesday, with no reported injuries. This incident occurred a month after the wind farm halted several of the company's turbines due to blade damage.
The 72-meter (236 ft) blade belonged to a Siemens Gamesa 5.0-145 turbine, part of the turbine maker's 4.X platform, a spokesperson for the wind farm confirmed to Reuters on Thursday.
The incident poses another challenge for Siemens Energy following what shareholders describe as a mishandled takeover of turbine maker Gamesa, leading the company to seek billions of euros in state-backed guarantees.
Last month, Odal Vind announced it had stopped 15 of the wind farm's 34 turbines due to blade damage linked to a production problem. “A crisis team has been established, and technical personnel from Siemens Gamesa are currently on site,” said Cloudberry Clean Energy, which owns a 33.4% stake in the wind farm, in a statement.
Siemens Gamesa had previously warned of quality problems at its onshore unit, particularly with certain rotor blades and main bearings in its 4.X and 5.X wind turbine platforms.
“It is still too early to say anything on the cause of the incident,” the Odal Vind spokesperson said, refraining from commenting on whether the incident was linked to previously reported quality issues. Siemens Gamesa stated in an email, “We now need to investigate the cause of this incident and are in contact with the customer to do so.”
Siemens Energy, the world's largest maker of offshore wind turbines, anticipates a 2024 loss before special items of around 2 billion euros at Siemens Gamesa.
Siemens Energy CEO Christian Bruch noted in February that the quality issues at Siemens Gamesa's onshore business were identified based on empirical usage data of newer turbines that had not been available at the time of the takeover.
Cloudberry assured that the incident was covered by Odal Vind's warranties and was not expected to have significant financial implications.
Other owners of Odal Vind include Akershus Energi with a 33.4% stake and pension fund KLP with 33.2%.
