Siemens Gamesa is investigating a blade failure on one of its most powerful, newest turbines, with parent group Siemens Energy said to be setting up a taskforce to investigate problems at the stricken wind power giant.
Siemens Gamesa confirmed that on Wednesday this week a blade broke on one of its machines at the Santo Agostinho wind farm in Brazil.
A spokesperson told Recharge: “There were no injuries, and a safety zone around the turbine has been established. Siemens Gamesa immediately started an internal investigation to determine the root cause of this incident. Until the analysis is completed, we cannot speculate on the cause of the incident.”
The 434MW, Santo Agostinho, which is owned by French energy giant Engie and only started exporting power in March, uses 6.2MW turbines – among the most powerful operating on land globally – from Siemens Gamesa’s 5.X platform.
The 5.X range is currently under intense scrutiny as part of an apparent wide-ranging set of quality issues that have beset the manufacturer and recently forced Siemens Energy to announce a potential new $1bn-plus bill for fixing them.
Siemens Energy shares plunged more than 30% in late June following the announcement, when Siemens Gamesa CEO Jochen Eickholt admitted problems at the wind group were “much worse than I thought possible”.
Siemens Energy has set up a special taskforce to investigate the issues at Siemens Gamesa, for which it forked out €4bn ($3bn) for full ownership.
The taksforce will among other matters probe why the problems at the wind OEM were not spotted when the deal was being put together, Reuters reported.
Industry sources confirmed to Recharge that the new taskforce, the second to be set up by Siemens Energy to look at the wind OEM, would examine the quality issues facing Siemens Gamesa, its business plan and legal issues.
Note: Update adds details of Siemens Energy taskforce
