A wind turbine near Marsh Line in Chatham-Kent. (Photo by Jake Kislinsky)A wind turbine near Marsh Line in Chatham-Kent. (Photo by Jake Kislinsky)
Chatham

Cause Of Turbine Collapse Still Isn't Clear

Two weeks after a wind turbine collapsed in Nova Scotia, the manufacturer still doesn't know why it happened.

Enercon says the cause continues to be investigated. One of its E82 turbines collapsed on August 17 in Cape Breton.

The E82 is the same model of turbine that is installed all across Ontario -- including some in Chatham-Kent.

Business Development Manager Eva Lotta Schmidt says you don't need to worry about a collapse happening here.

"At the Point Tupper Wind Farm in Nova Scotia we had a scheduled component exchange, and the incident that triggered the evacuation procedure happened during that scheduled component exchange," Schmidt says.

She says inspections are done on their turbines every three-to-six months.

"We have both visual and mechanical inspections that are done," says Lotta Schmidt. "What's also important to say is that this has not happened during a regular maintenance or service call. It hasn't happened during the installation or the construction phase -- or during regular operation of a wind turbine."

She says because of this, no other turbines are affected by the issue and they're confident it's an isolated incident.

"[Enercon] has close to a thousand wind turbines installed in Canada over the last 15 years, and this is the first time that such an event has occurred," Lotta Schmidt says. "Whatever comes out of this investigation will be used to improve our procedures."

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