when 262ft tall wind mill came crushing down (at low wind speeds) !!!

Sounds of grinding metal and the large structure collapsing  were reportedly  heard as far as seven miles away  ~ collapse is for sure and tell-tale evidences available – most likely that there was insurance coverage and more certain that there would be a claim as well ! but !! …..

Wind energy is the kinetic energy that is present in moving air. Electricity generation is the process of generating electric energy from other forms of energy.  Besides the conventional source of electric generation, there is renewable source of energy – the Wind mills.  Tamilnadu has hundreds of windmills nearer Nagercoil and near Coimbatore.  Windmill is a machine that converts the wind energy into electric energy.    Also called wind turbine and WEG [wind electricity generator] – they convert the kinetic energy from the wind into mechanical energy.

Mishaps do occur – some are sudden, accidental, fortuitous.   In Marine (at sea) a vessel, howsoever big,  could still suffer a setback by so many perils, especially – the perils of the sea.  Perils of the Sea are fortuitous accidents or casualties peculiar to navigable waters in the nature of violent waves or wind (not ordinary action of winds and waves), collision, striking submerged objects, running aground and sinking.  On hard ground, in India, the coverage is under Standard Fire Policy. Fire insurance policy offers indemnity not only against fire but against certain other specified perils as well.  In what is termed as ‘STFI’ -  there are two set of perils : wind and water. Storm, cyclone, typhoon, tempest, hurricane, tornado are all variants of wind blowing at different speeds and at different regions. Flood and inundation are water perils.

Though it is not stated on the Policy, the obvious reference for determining whether the wind that caused destruction would fall within the ambit is reference to ‘beaufort scale’ which is an empirical measure for describing wind speed. Thus strong or gale winds would not be within the ambit of the policy but only damages caused by winds of speed over 89 kmph [55 mph].

At,  Murley Mountain in County Tyrone, Ireland, a 262ft tall structure at Screggagh wind farm worth around £500,000 (Rs.4.83 crores) buckled and collapsed on Friday, during a period of relatively mild winds.  Daily Mail reports of a  large wind turbine £500,000 mysteriously collapsing  on an Irish mountainside during light winds.  The 262ft tall structure was found buckled and destroyed at Screggagh wind farm on Murley Mountain in County Tyrone, Fintona.

The report states that an investigation has now been launched into what caused the huge structure to collapse amid the sound of grinding metal, which could be heard as far away as seven miles.  It remains unclear why the turbine fell on Friday, during a period of light winds which reached around 15mph - the equivalent of a breeze.  The wreckage of the turbine was a mass of twisted and buckled metal. Debris from the large mechanical structure was scattered across the mountain in northern Ireland, where it stood with eight others.

In what one termed as the scandal of UK's death-trap wind turbines, a turbine built for 115mph winds felled in 50mph gusts. Dozens more affected by cost-cutting. Why residents living in their shadow are demanding answers ?. It is understood the rotor blades spun out of control and the sound of the mechanical structure crashing to the ground was compared to an explosion.  The  director of the wind farm is quoted as saying that fortunately there wree no injuries as no personnel were on site at that time.  She added that they are  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.

In January last year a 115ft tall turbine was felled by gales in Bradworthy in Devon. Months later three turbines - built to withstand winds of  up to 115mph fell when speeds barely reached 50mph in Devon.  The Health and Safety Executive found the cause of the crashing turbines was due to faults in the way they had been put together, which could have affected hundreds of others 

The reference to Fire Policy was only for the coverage in terms of wind speed, there could be Erection and other specialised coverages as well.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

5^th Jan 2015.