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A little while back we covered a spate of turbine collapses across the UK – terrorising locals not used to the sky-falling in around them on a regular basis (see our post here).
And we’ve dealt with the increasing numbers of turbine blades that routinely unshackle themselves in bids for airborne freedom, troublesome events, which the wind industry euphemistically calls “component liberation” (see our posts here and here and here and here).
As one of Newton’s predicted constants, gravity seems to be working its frightening magic without relent in Britain. Here’s, yet another, tale of toppling turbines from the UK – this time it’s the Scottish Highlands where things are going bump in the night.
Wind turbine topples over near New Deer
pressandjournal.co.uk
14 November 2014
A homeowner near the north-east village of New Deer was left bewildered yesterday after a wind turbine crashed to the ground through the night.
The structure is one of three 72ft turbines near the former Cairnorrie Primary School on the B9170 Methlick to New Deer road.
David Richards, who lives in view of the toppled turbine, described last night how he had first noticed that it had fallen over in the early morning of yesterday.
He said: “I don’t know when it happened. It was there – fine – on Wednesday afternoon when I went out to feed the animals. Then I came downstairs this morning and looked out the window and saw it was lying flat and sort of bent. It was a bit of a shock.
“We’ve not had it too bad around here. In fact, for a windy place, it’s actually been quite calm.”
“The people who put it up came and chopped it up and took away the top.”
Mr Richards, who has lived at his property near the B-road for nine years, said that he had originally objected to the plans when they were first submitted to the local authority.
“I just don’t like wind turbines. I think they’re a blot on the landscape. When we came, there weren’t any turbines. Then a new power line was put up, then the application for those went in. There were quite a few objections.
“They’re closer to us than they should be, and they’re closer to us than we want them to be. Some people love them, some people can’t be bothered by them, and some people don’t like them very much at all. I fall into that last category.
“The place is becoming a bit like ‘turbine alley’,” he added.
The turbine’s owners, a nearby farmer, declined to comment last night when approached.
pressandjournal.co.uk
And it’s not just farmers dodging flying blades and collapsing towers.
Oh, no.
Thanks to eco-fascist efforts to indoctrinate the young and impressionable on the “wonders” of wind, it’s school kids that have to learn the finer points of how to successfully run, duck and take cover: wind weasels have planted hundreds of their whirling monsters in schoolyards across the UK, including dozens at schools in the Highlands of Scotland.
Wind power outfits in Scotland have engineered propaganda opportunities around forcing kids to name wind turbines.
And the same tactic of brainwashing captive audiences of impressionable youngsters is part-and-parcel of the wind industry wherever you go: Australia, no exception (see our post here).
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A while back we covered the story of turbine blades being flung around the schoolyard at Caithness in Scotland (see our post here). Fortunately, that unscheduled “component liberation” event, didn’t end with decapitated pupils – but, give it time, and the casualties of “green” zealotry will mount, as more and more turbines collapse or otherwise self-destruct (see this article from last week for yet another story on collapsing fans and flying blades – this time next door to a community hall).
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It’s a point not lost on Highlander, Brenda Herrick who penned this brilliant letter published by her local rag, The John O’Groats Journal, in response to the local Council’s malign indifference to the risks to little lives and limbs created by the, wholly unnecessary, eco-crucifixes being used by wind weasels to warp the minds of the young and innocent.
To the Editor
Sir,
It is interesting that the Council responded to your article on the safety of school turbines last week by emphasising that they are ensuring they get value for money. It is unlikely these turbines will ever pay for themselves but that’s not the point. The Council did not consider the risks of installing fast spinning machines where children at school are forced to play until I alerted councillors to the danger and others became involved. No risk assessments were carried out at individual schools prior to installation.
Following publicity the Council braked the turbines and engaged the Building Research Establishment to produce a risk assessment process. The actual assessments were carried out by Council personnel. At installation each turbine had been surrounded by a small wooden fence, easily climbed by children. Following the assessment these were replaced by higher metal fences, which prevent children climbing in but do not protect them from falling parts, and maintenance intervals were halved. I am not sure what the Council’s “robust risk assessments” are designed to achieve but they cannot guarantee the safety of children.
The BRE report recommended “turbine siting safety zones” consisting of a Fall zone, a wider Topple zone and a wider still Ejection zone (parts flying off).
When I asked the Council “What is the actual diameter of an ejection zone as referred to in the reports, say for a 15m tower turbine?” the reply was “The Council’s approach has been on prevention of risk, thereby negating the need for exclusion.” So having commissioned a report they decided to ignore parts of it, presumably because in most school playgrounds there is no room for an ejection zone.
A blade flying off at speed can travel a considerable distance. They have apparently forgotten the incident on Skye in 2009 when a Highland school turbine started shedding springs and had to be taken down by the Head Teacher. The Council’s own sensible recommendations in its report of that incident included “Ensure that there is an adequate buffer zone from the main pathways and occupied area, in schools this should include entrance and regularly used pathways and playground areas.” There are no “buffer zones”.
The following are examples of school turbine failures I am aware of from press reports, so by no means a complete record:
The school’s wind turbine collapsed December 8 about 7 a.m., knocking down a power line and causing school to be cancelled for the day.
Last month the revolutionary eco-friendly school lost its green energy supply after a damper, used to control the blades, came off when bolts broke. The three-inch-square part, weighing several kilos, plunged to the ground, luckily outside school hours when there were no children around.
But soon after being installed the wind turbine became faulty and after a few months seized up – showering the school’s playing field with debris.
A wind turbine at a school in Flackwell Heath has been repaired after part of it fell off into the school playground.
School wind turbine at Akron-Westfield school reported to be running out of control, suspected braking failure. School Superintendent described it as “life threatening”.
The turbine then collapsed, landing in the school’s playground, although no one was hurt.
Stunned students watched as a 40ft wind turbine crashed to earth during its installation on Fakenham High School playing field this lunchtime.
Within two years after installation, one of the three Proven 35-2 Wind Turbines installed at our Local High School came loose and crashed to the ground. It landed outside of the fenced off “Fall-Zone” behind the school.
A wind turbine came crashing down near Western Reserve High School.
Blade on the turbine at Seascale School blown off and landed 200m away in a field.
A FAMILY were left traumatised after a 4ft blade broke from a wind turbine in the grounds of a Rowley Regis school and spun out of control narrowly missing their house.
It is only luck that no-one so far has been injured at school.
There is a general denial of risk, presumably based on ignorance of the number of turbine failures occurring world-wide. One reason for this is that Renewable UK, the industry body, guarantees confidentiality to its members when reporting incidents.
Even the Health & Safety Executive cannot access their records and stated recently: “Consequently the HSE do not currently have a database of wind turbine failures on which they can base judgements on the reliability and risk assessments for wind turbines.” This is a disgraceful situation when turbines are so frequently close to people and buildings. Parents have a right to believe their children are not exposed to unnecessary risk in school grounds.
Brenda Herrick
Castletown
THURSO
For a run-down on the potential for murder and mayhem being caused by flying turbine blades in Scottish school yards, check out this detailed paper here and this summary of the chaos being created in this link here.
STOP THESE THINGS 
About 20 years ago a whole bunch of wealthy investors sat around a table and worked out how to get more money out of working class peoples’ pockets and into theirs. The result was ‘The Big Wind Industry’ which tugged at the heart of the green movement.
This industry cannot survive without subsidies. Look what happened in California after the subsidies were withdrawn. Everybody has to realise that the whole of the wind industry is just one giant pyramid rort ponzi scheme and that we, as well as politicians who won’t admit it, have been conned.
Simply, turbine cost in green house gasses, just to manufacture (along with the capital cost the cost to erect maintain and operate) will exceed its usefulness in producing clean green electricity in its lifetime by 9 to 1. In not too many years from now, half of the wind turbines will have disintegrated and will be gone with the wind as it were. The other half will stand as rusting monuments to mans’ stupidity and the proponents of the Wind Industry, manufacturers and operators will be long gone and there will be no money left to clean up the mess. Governments supporting Wind Power with subsidies are supporting a pyramid ponzi scheme rort. Knock knock hello anybody home ? !!!
All this about flying wind turbine debris is shocking and unforgivable, but I must also mention that erecting mega-watt wind turbines near schools places children at risk of physical illnesses and cognitive disorders.
This practice MUST be stopped. Parents take action!
In Scotland we’re talking about 5kw turbines in school playgrounds where children play so the main danger is from mechanical failure although the noise is not good so near classrooms. Unfortunately, despite endless news items it seems most parents just don’t get it. They and their children are brainwashed.
Hi Brenda, Even the smaller wind turbines can be a health threat. I know of a woman whose home is close to the 6 kW machine on the school building in Nantucket Island, MA, USA, who is suffering from Wind Turbine Syndrome. All this is for a useless and unnecessary technology that only benefits its investors and owners.
“Wind turbine generators should be setback from dwellings, tourist accommodation and frequently visited public places (such as viewing platforms) a distance that will ensure that failure does not present an unacceptable risk to safety.”
This is a quote from SA’s current Development Act incorporating this and other changes to provide a clear road for turbines to be installed after Richard Paltridge stopped the Acciona Allendale project in the ERD court.
How can they achieve this if they have in that Act that turbines can be placed 1 and 2km from peoples homes. When a smaller older turbine caught fire in SA and WorkSafe told fire fighters to retreat to 1km for safety reasons because of the flying debris, but there have also been reports of debris flying more than 1km from turbines ‘liberating themselves’ elsewhere.
What about those whose land boundary is within 1km of a turbine in rural areas – do they let that land go un-used to keep workers and family members safe. What the Government considers ‘an unacceptable risk to safety’, is not detailed in the Act, so it could be argued that a safe distance is 10km from a home or place of work due to the risk of damaging people’s health.
Common-sense appears not to be a top priority for those writing regulations, or those assessing and signing off on them.
That was a bad week for turbines – 3 in 7 days so as well as the Highland one there was one in Germany http://www.friends-against-wind.org/accidents/windrad-gebrochen-viele-fragen (what a mess!) and one in the US http://www.kwch.com/news/local-news/Wind-turbine-collapses-in-Haskell-County/30258082
Quote
“We’ve not had it too bad around here. In fact, for a windy place, it’s actually been quite calm.”
Funny about that, seeing as wind farms only ever run at 30% at best, here must be a lot more calm days than people think.
On my visit to King Island, a few of the locals including the mayor, said that it would be a good place for a wind farm because the wind always blew hard there. (I think the only ‘blow hards’ there, were the wind weasels and their sycophants.)
Since I have been following Andrew Miskelly’s wind performance web site, I was surprised to observe just how many days the two wind farms on Tasmania not far from King Island are either off or running at about 5% for hours at a time. I guess people only remember the occasions when the wind is strong.
A bit like down our way, If we have a few days of hot weather in the summer, everyone comments on how hot it is and blame it on global warming (well, hello, it is the summer!) but never seem to remember the Christmas days when we have the lounge room fire going because it was so cold.
Math question:
If electricity generation is responsible for about 25% of a country’s green house gas emissions, and wind power is about 4% of that, and wind turbines only run at about 30%, then what is 30% of 4% of 25%.
Perhaps four fifths of five eighths of FA? (precisely next to nothing?)
Maybe it’s just me, but this afternoon I got a Newsletter drop in my front gate (Community update No 6) from my local wonderful wind turbine company.
It starts off, and I quote,
So from my heart, in the spirit of Christmas and considering my feelings towards the Gullen Range Wind farm, I say to the wind turbine company
GET STUFFED!
I wish you all the same bloody Christmas I am having and thanks to you it’s not good.