Investigations underway after turbine blade parts detach at Golden Plains wind farm

Investigations are underway into an incident at TagEnergy’s Golden Plains wind farm over the weekend, in which small turbine blade parts detached and fell from turbines at the 756MW stage one of the huge project.

Vestas, the turbine supplier and installer for what will ultimately be a 1.3GW project, confirmed the incident with Renew Economy on Monday, following reports in the local press over the weekend. No injuries or damages to property have been reported.

The wind turbine blade parts that have detached are referred to as serrated trailing edges, which use a sawtooth design to improve airflow over the wind turbine blades and reduce the noise they make when spinning.

“The project partners of Golden Plains Wind Farm are promptly working to resolve the issue of detached material from select wind turbines, which are small in size, and made from flexible plastic that has a bendable texture,” Vestas said in an emailed statement on Sunday.

“We are working with WorkSafe Victoria and a root cause investigation is underway.

“Site personnel have been informed and encouraged to continue to adhere to the relevant safety procedures. The project partners endeavor to permanently resolve this issue as soon as possible.”

The incident comes as construction gets underway on the final 577MW stage of the 1,333MW, $4 billion project, and as stage 1 goes through the final stages of construction and installation, through to commissioning.

Golden Plains Wind Farm Stage 1 is expected to start producing energy in the first quarter of 2025, with Stage 2 to follow in mid-2027.

Once complete, the full 1.3GW project will supply 9% of Victoria’s energy, or enough to power more than 750,000 homes.