Man dies in Japan after blade falls from wind turbine

An 81-year-old man has died in the northern Japanese prefecture of Akita after a 40-metre-long wind turbine blade broke and fell to the ground.

Various local media outlets confirmed that an emergency call was fielded by police last Friday morning, describing a wind turbine blade breaking off a wind turbine at Araya Seaside Park.

The local police and fire departments subsequently confirmed that an 81-year-old man had been found lying unconscious with head injuries around a metre away from the fallen blade. He was later pronounced dead after being transported to hospital.

Local police are investigating.

Media outlets added that a local meteorological observatory had issued a strong wind warning for the city for that morning.

A local TV news report appears to show the moment the turbine broke, flinging the broken turbine blade to the ground.

In comments to clean energy news outlet reNEWS, German wind OEM Enercon confirmed that it was inspecting blades at wind farms in Japan that use the same turbine blade, the Enercon E-82.

Enercon confirmed to renews that the E-82 turbine was involved in the incident and was “operated and serviced” by a “local partner”.  

“Our partners are managing the situation and are in close contact with local authorities,” the Enercon spokesperson told reNEWS.

“Other wind farms with turbines of the same type are currently being checked (meaning that regularly scheduled blade inspections are brought forward).

“We take the incident seriously and support our partners and the authorities in the investigation of the cause.”