Wind Farm Blaze Raises Concerns over Siting

On the 23rd December 2005 one of the 200ft wind turbines at the Nissan Car plant suffered a catastrophic fire after undergoing unsuccessful attempts to repair a fault. The entire structure, including nacelle (the box on top of the tower, to which the blades are attached) and 75ft long blades were destroyed. Police were forced to close the nearby A1231 and A19 for over an hour and half, until the turbine structure had burned away, because of safety fears.

The Nissan fire brings into sharp focus public concerns about the careless siting of risk-prone industrial structures, particularly since these are now increasingly being proposed in areas close to domestic residences and public rights of way.

Because of their very large size the latest generation of turbines, many of which now exceed 300 feet, much larger than the Nissan turbines, undergo very considerable stresses during operation. The rotor on a modern turbine can weigh as much as 37 tonnes, and rotating at between 15 and 20 rpm, the tips are travelling at speeds in excess of 150 mph. The nacelle contains large numbers of flammable components, including lubricating oils. Fires are a well-documented problem on the continent, which has much more experience with wind turbines than the UK.

In Europe there is growing resistance to the installation of large wind turbines. Denmark is currently planning to replace 900 smaller wind turbines with 150 larger machines, but due to public concern no suitable sites have yet been found for these machines (Jyllands Post, 28-12-05). Danish effort is now almost entirely concentrated on offshore locations.

Campbell Dunford, CEO of the Renewable Energy Foundation, said: "The fire at the Nissan car plant and the disruption to the local road system, shows that we need much more responsible attitude to wind-arm planning, which is an ill-informed and subjective affair at best in the UK. As Denmark has now concluded, if wind turbines belong anywhere, they belong well out to sea".