Wind turbine collapses on calm day in Oklahoma, another is struck by lightning

A Nordex wind turbine has collapsed at a wind farm in northern Oklahoma with no discernible explanation for what caused the tower to buckle.

The collapse was reportedly heard by locals at least four miles (6.4 kilometres) away, who described the early-morning collapse as sounding like an explosion. Other locals thought that there had been an earthquake.

Officials from the Kildare Fire Department attended to the site and quickly reported that no one had been injured, and no fires had been started as a result of the collapse.

However, officials also told local television station KOCO 5 the situation was “bizarre” as it had not been windy at the time of the collapse.

Consisting of 74 wind turbines made by Nordex from its N149/4.XMW platform, with each rated to 4.8MW, the 351.8MW Frontier Windpower II wind farm is an expansion of the 220MW Frontier Windpower project which began operations in 2016.

The turbines were installed throughout 2020, and the project has been operating since March 2021.

Each turbine boasts a swept area of 17,460 m² and a rotor diameter of 149.1 metres, and a hub height of up to 164 metres, depending on the project.

In an emailed statement to journalists, Nordex said only that “a turbine was found collapsed on the ground” and that “only material damage occurred as a result of the incident.”

“The necessary safety measures were implemented immediately after the incident,” the spokesperson added.

“A team comprising both local Nordex USA employees and experts from Nordex Group have started investigating the root cause of the incident in close collaboration with the customer.”

The Frontier II wind farm is operated by Deriva Energy, formerly Duke Energy Renewables, which was acquired by the renewables division of US asset management firm Brookfield. 

“We can confirm a turbine collapsed at Frontier II Wind,” a Deriva spokesperson said in a statement to journalists.

“All employees are safe and accounted for, and the site is secure. The plant remains safe and operational.  An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the collapse.” 

The Frontier II wind turbine collapse happened just a day before a blade on a GE Haliade-X wind turbine was potentially hit by a lightning strike, continuing the wind farm’s woes.

In fact, local reports suggest that it was the same turbine blade that crumpled in the middle of 2024 that has again been damaged, with the US Coast Guard claiming that lighting struck the turbine known as AW-38 on February 27.

“Based on a visual inspection of the damaged blade, preliminary evidence indicates that the blade may have been impacted by a lightning strike, though we continue to assess in coordination with GE Vernova,” a spokesperson for Vineyard Wind said in a statement to journalists.

“This was contained to the damaged blade, and based on current information there is no impact to the nacelle or turbine structure. Vineyard Wind deployed both aerial and maritime resources and based on current observations, there is no indication of debris from this event.

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