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This Is Not the First Time a Wind Turbine Has Collapsed in RN. But Despite the Incident, No One Was Hurt
On the last Sunday afternoon in January (30), a wind energy production tower collapsed in a wind farm located in the municipality of Rio do Fogo, in North Coast, RN. The incident occurred at the Arizona wind farm, which is part of the Neoenergia group.
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Neoenergia Comments on the Collapse of the Wind Energy Production Tower in RN
According to a statement from the company, following the confirmation of the incident, the possible causes of the wind energy production tower collapse are already being investigated.
The company also stated that despite the incident that occurred around 12:30 PM on Sunday (30), there were no injuries, only material damage to Neoenergia and disruptions in energy supply, which were quickly resolved.
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The spokespeople for Neoenergia concluded in a statement, informing that operations of all other wind energy towers in the park will be fully maintained without causing further disruptions in energy supply in the Rio do Fogo region, RN.
RN and Its Relationship with Renewable Energy Generation
Rio Grande do Norte is currently the largest producer of wind energy in the country, ahead of Bahia, Ceará, and Piauí. RN has more than 2,500 wind energy towers installed in parks throughout the state, according to a survey conducted by the Center for Strategies in Natural Resources and Energy (Cerne) in September 2021. In total, there are 200 parks in operation in the state, and it ended the year 2021 with over 4,200 jobs generated in RN.
Similar Cases Involving Incidents with Wind Towers and Turbines
In September 2019, in the city of Paulino Neves, in the interior of Maranhão, an accident also involving the collapse of a wind energy tower left an employee of Omega Geração injured. At the time, there were three employees performing maintenance on the wind energy towers of the Delta 6 park when one of the towers – on which a collaborator was performing maintenance in the nacelle, a compartment situated at the top of the tower – collapsed.
GE, the manufacturer of the wind turbine from the Delta 6 wind farm in Paulino Neves/MA, reported through a statement that it would implement an emergency inspection plan for all wind energy towers in the park to better analyze the occurrence and take new preventive measures for accidents and improve the safety of its employees, whose services and labor are of utmost importance.
Back in Rio Grande do Norte, in February of last year (2021), two incidents occurred at the Rei dos Ventos wind farm, which had recently been acquired at the time by AES Brasil. Along with GE, which is also responsible for the wind energy towers in the park, and the French company Alstom, supplier of some operating towers at Rei dos Ventos, the case began to be investigated to understand what happened, due to suspicions of sabotage.
At the time, images of the accident that circulated on social media and in newspapers showed that one of the pieces of equipment was completely on fire, while part of the turbine from the other simply fell from the tower where it had been installed. Despite the respective incidents, no AES Brasil employees working at the Rei dos Ventos wind farm were injured.
