I had no idea how BIG these damned things are – See photo
A three year old wind turbine collapsed in a 15 mile an hour breeze in Ireland. The failure was in the metal just above the base.
Unconfirmed reports suggested the blades of the 32-story-tall wind turbine had spun out of control before the structure came crashing to the ground on Friday.
Locals claimed the sound of the turbine – worth more than £3 million – hitting the mountain could be heard up to seven miles away from the Screggagh wind farm, near Fintona in County Tyrone.
Early reports are that the rotor blades spun out of control and the sound of the structure crashing to the ground could be heard up to seven miles away.
Some people compared it to an explosion while others claimed to have heard the sound of metal grinding throughout the day.
No-one was injured in the incident, which left debris scattered across the wind farm site.
Each turbine’s tower is almost 200 feet tall, with the rotor blades spanning a diameter of more than 260 feet, giving a total height from base to tip of 328 feet.
In September 2013 an eight-year-old Nordex turbine in a German wind farm reportedly caught fire.
Look at how small the tractor looks compared to this behemoth (3rd photo down):
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/energy/windpower/11324119/Wind-turbine-collapses-in-Northern-Ireland.html
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/probe-as-wind-turbine-collapse-30881092.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-30665364
Thanks to Gale Combs and Reezeh for these links