Enefit Green to reboot Lithuanian wind farm following turbine collapse

Estonian renewable energy producer Enefit Green AS (TAL:EGR1T) said on Thursday that it has agreed to gradually restart the turbines at its 75-MW Akmene wind farm in Lithuania, after shutting them all down to determine the cause of the collapse of one of the machines in May 2023.

The Akmene wind farm was still under construction at the time of the incident, and was partially producing electricity when one of its 14 General Electric (GE) turbines malfunctioned on May 2. The malfunction caused the turbine tower to bend and the nacelle to fall to the ground. No injuries were reported.

As a precaution, all turbines were stopped and remained deactivated throughout the investigation.

The investigation concluded that a malfunctioning sensor sent incorrect information to the turbine controller which led to an excessive load on the tower structure, resulting in the turbine’s collapse.

“Following identification of the failure mechanism, General Electric has identified and is implementing additional protective measures to prevent any recurrence of this specific or similar incident in the future,” Enefit Green said.

GE also prepared a plan for the gradual restart of the unaffected wind turbines, which Enefit Green’s management board approved. The company said that 12 of Akmene’s turbines will be rebooted over a three-week period starting on September 11, 2023. The collapsed turbine will be fully replaced, while another turbine will undergo nacelle replacement due to an unrelated technical issue.

Enefit Green will aim to finalise the commissioning of the entire Akmene wind farm by the end of the first quarter of 2024, the company added.

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