THE storm force winds experienced in Donegal on Thursday caused the blade of a wind turbine near Killybegs to break off.
The five turbine wind farm at Corkermore was recently granted planning permission for a further four turbines to be erected.
Fine Gael Councillor John Boyle lives close to the wind farm which generates 10 megawatts from the five turbines.
Speaking to the Donegal News, he said a section of blade around 10 feet long broke of and fell to the ground beside the turbine.
“It didn’t do any damage and there was no one near it. I can only presume it was the very strong winds which caused it to break off,” Cllr Boyle said.
Around ten years ago he sold land to the developers on which two of the five turbines are sited.
“Some people might be concerned but there are five or six neighbours around here for who it would be no problem. There was absolutely no danger,” he added.
However locals who had unsuccessfully appealed the recent planning permission for four more turbines to An Bord Pleanala will be concerned about the falling blade, particularly in light of the collapse of a wind turbine at Maas near Ardara in high winds in March.
The site of the Corkermore wind farm is nine kilometres north-east of Killybegs.
The owners of Corkermore Wind Farm Limited stated the broken blade section was found 30m from the wind turbine and is now under investigation by its manufacturer Gamesa as to the cause of the incident.
“The individual turbine brought itself to a stop automatically and there was no damage to any other turbines or facilities on the site which is in an isolated area. Gamesa technical staff are examining the single turbine affected and will also carry out precautionary checks on each of the turbines on site,” a company spokesperson said.
The Glenties Windfarm Information Group has called on the County Council to investigate the matter sying it is just 500 metres from a house.
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