GE Wind Power Equipment Accident Is Second in Two Months in Brazil, Adding to Three Others in the United States
An accident at the Delta 6 wind farm, operated by Omega Geração, located in the municipality of Paulino Neves, Maranhão, left an employee who was performing maintenance on a wind turbine injured.
The GE wind turbine collapsed in Maranhão on the night of last Tuesday (09/03) and according to the manufacturer, there were three employees on site, one of whom was injured and required medical assistance.
In a statement, GE declared: “The safety of our employees is extremely important to us and we are supporting the employee who was injured, as well as his family at this time”.
According to witnesses, the turbine fell while a maintenance technician was in the nacelle, the compartment installed at the top of the tower.
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Previous Cases
This is not the first time such an accident has occurred in Brazil, as this is the second recorded incident in the last two months.
A similar case, involving a turbine collapse, occurred at the Ventos de São Clemente wind complex in Caetés (PE), and to this day the company has not removed the pieces of the fallen turbine from the site.
It is expected that GE, after this second incident, will launch an emergency plan for the inspection of all its wind towers. In a statement to the Valor newspaper, GE said it is working to determine the cause of the incident and provide the appropriate support as needed.
Globally, GE has experienced three other incidents in its operations in the U.S. In one of them, which occurred in February, a 2.5 MW turbine fell at a wind complex in New Mexico.
In May, the incident occurred in Oklahoma with a 2.4 MW machine, and in July, GE reported an incident involving a turbine in Nebraska.
GE is the market leader in Brazil, where it holds about 35% of the share in the 15 gigawatts (GW) of wind energy capacity in operation.
Read also! Bahia is the national leader in wind energy production!
