An aerial view exhibits wind generators at RWE’s Scroby Sands Wind Farm, off the coast of Great Yarmouth, japanese England, on February 15, 2023.
Daniel Leal | Afp | Getty Images
LONDON — An offshore wind turbine within the North Sea caught fire Tuesday, with all personnel evacuated and accounted for.
The turbine is a component of the Scroby Sands Offshore Wind Farm, which has a capability of 60 megawatts.
Situated on a sandbank off the city of Great Yarmouth in England, the power has 30 generators and was commissioned in 2004. It is owned and operated by RWE Offshore Wind.
In a press release despatched to CNBC Tuesday, a Maritime and Coastguard Agency spokesperson mentioned: “HM Coastguard has been monitoring a wind turbine on fire on the Scroby Sands Wind Farm in the present day … off the coast of Great Yarmouth.”
“The alarm was raised at about 10.50am and all personnel working on the web site have been evacuated by the working firm and are accounted for,” the spokesperson added.
The turbine at Scroby Sands is not alight, and there was no requirement for search and rescue items to be deployed. It shouldn’t be unheard of for wind generators to catch fire, and a quantity of related incidents have been reported up to now few years.
The U.Ok. is a significant participant in offshore wind, and residential to a quantity of large-scale initiatives together with the fully operational Hornsea 2 and the beneath development Dogger Bank Wind Farm.
According to researchers at Imperial College London, wind generators provided 32.4% of Britain’s electricity within the first three months of the 12 months.
CNBC contacted RWE on Tuesday afternoon however had not obtained a response forward of this story’s publication. The BBC’s report on the fire contained a press release from an RWE spokesperson, which mentioned: “An incident occurred which led to a fire within the turbine nacelle — the enclosure on the high of the tower which homes the producing elements.”
“Emergency providers had been contacted instantly and the Coastguard made conscious. They are monitoring the realm and advising on a possible 500 metre restriction zone being enforced across the affected turbine.”
“We would ask individuals to stay away from the realm as assessments are ongoing.”