Gradual restart of turbines in Akmene wind farm
Following the incident in Akmene wind farm (under construction) on 2 May 2023, Enefit Green has been working closely with the turbine supplier General Electric, construction company Merko Statyba, technical consulting company DNV Services UK and other partners including Lithuanian local and national government authorities to investigate circumstances that led to the collapse of one wind turbine. During the time of the investigation all wind turbines in Akmene wind farm have been stopped.
The management board of Enefit Green discussed the findings of the investigation at its meeting on 7 September 2023. A detailed root cause analysis has led to the conclusion that a malfunctioning sensor sent incorrect information to the turbine controller which led to an excessive load on the tower structure and resulted in the collapse of the turbine. Following identification of the failure mechanism, General Electric has identified and is implementing additional protective measures to prevent any recurrence of this specific or similar incident in the future.
The management board of Enefit Green also discussed and approved a gradual restarting plan of the unaffected turbines prepared and proposed by General Electric. The plan foresees gradual restart of 12 turbines over a period of 3 weeks commencing on 11 September 2023. The collapsed wind turbine will be replaced completely, and one additional turbine will undergo nacelle replacement due to an unrelated technical issue.
The management team of Enefit Green targets to complete the commissioning of the entire Akmene wind farm by the end of Q1 2024.
Further information:
Sven Kunsing
Head of Finance Communications
Enefit Green is one of the leading diversified renewable energy producers in the Baltic Sea area. The Company operates wind farms in Estonia and Lithuania, cogeneration plants in Estonia and Latvia, solar farms in Estonia and Poland, a pellet plant in Latvia and a hydroelectric plant in Estonia. In addition, the Company is developing several wind and solar farms in the mentioned countries and Finland. As of the end of 2022, the Company had a total installed electricity production capacity of 457 MW and a total installed heat production capacity of 81 MW. During 2022, the Company produced 1,118 GWh of electricity, 565 GWh of heat energy and 154 thousand tonnes of wood pellets.
