By Matt McGregor for The Epoch Times
An increase in the failure of wind turbine components and the subsequent financial fallout are creating uncertainty about the true sustainability of an industry campaigning for green energy.
Siemens Energy announced on June 22 that it would be withdrawing its profit assumptions and initiating a technical review of Siemens Gamesa’s onshore wind farm, which could cost more than $1.1 billion.
“This is a disappointing, bitter setback,” Siemens Gamesa CEO Jochen Eickholt said in a June conference call. “The quality problems go well beyond what had been known hitherto, in particular in the onshore area.”
The mechanical problems could affect 15 percent to 30 percent of the company’s wind turbine farms and take several years to repair.
The day after the announcement, Siemens Energy’s shares dropped more than 37 percent.
The company said it expected challenges to “ramp up” offshore as well.
Siemens Energy is a subsidiary of the German conglomerate Siemens. Siemens Energy’s wind farm business, Siemens Gamesa, is a global company based in Spain that constructs onshore and offshore turbines in Europe and the United States.
The company began an investigation into a damaged turbine at the Santo Agostinho wind farm that French energy company Engie SA is building in the northeast of Brazil, Bloomberg reported.
The installation—which is part of Siemens Gamesa’s new 5.X model of onshore wind farms, with turbine blades as long as 262 feet—has faced numerous quality control issues and has been shut down for the investigation.
Since Siemens Gamesa’s announcement, a spokesperson confirmed to Recharge on July 5 that a blade had broken at the Santo Agostinho wind farm…
To read the full article on the underrporting of failures, material and engineering shortages, and the clamor of companies to cash in on the “green rush”, go to The Epoch Times…
Wind Concerns is a collaboration of citizens of the Lakeland Alberta region against proposed wind turbine projects.