Turbine collapses on Northern Ireland wind farm

A £2m turbine has buckled and crashed to the ground on a wind farm in Northern Ireland.

Debris from the 60m-tall turbine was scattered across the mountainside and people seven miles away reported hearing the collapse on Friday night.

The turbine’s blades were understood to be spinning out of control, despite middling wind speeds of 10-12m/sec.

The structure was one of eight at Screggagh wind farm, near Fintona in County Tyrone.

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Doreen Walker, the wind farm’s director, said there were no injuries and no staff were on site at the time.

“We are investigating the circumstances that led to the collapse of the turbine at Screggagh wind farm,” she said.

“A further statement will be made once the investigation has been completed and the reasons for the failure confirmed.”

The wind farm was opened in 2011 and cost about £26m.

Each of the turbines has about 2.5MW of capacity and was built by German company Nordex.

Ms Walker added that she was working closely with Nordex to make sure the site was safe.

“We are however satisfied that the site’s precautionary health and safety alert processes worked well with local emergency services in attendance within minutes of the incident taking place,” she said.