UPDATE - Siemens collapse at Ocotillo caused by blade failure

Blade failure is the likely reason for the collapse of one of the Siemens turbines at the 265-MW Ocotillo Wind power plant in California, the owner of the facility, Pattern Energy Group Inc (NASDAQ:PEGI), has said.

The turbine fell on November 21. Pattern said that a preliminary root cause analysis by Siemens (ETR:SIE) has narrowed the cause of the incident to a blade failure that caused the blade to strike the tower and the tower to collapse. The failure probably is a result of cracks in the structural member of the interior of the blade that Pattern said are slow to develop and can be seen via visual inspection of the inside of the blade.

Siemens is currently performing such inspections of all the blades at the wind park. The individual turbines will be returned to service after completing the checks and confirming the incident is unlikely to recur, according to the announcement.

Siemens has made more than 2,100 turbine blades of the same design and this the first failure of that kind, Pattern said. The company also said that the recent blade failure is unrelated to the blade failure experienced at the facility in 2013.

The Ocotillo Wind park has been operating in Imperial Valley since the end of 2012. It comprises a total of 112 Siemens turbines of 2.37 MW each. It sells its output to San Diego Gas & Electric Co (SDG&E) under a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA).

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