A wind turbine has collapsed during windy weather in Victoria, sparking concern in the local community and calls for an urgent safety audit.
The top half of the 112metre-tall turbine at Berrybank Wind Farm, west of Geelong, snapped off in the early hours of Tuesday morning after wind gusts of 60km/h were recorded in the area.
No-one was injured, but Spanish operator Naturgy shut down the wind farm as a safety precaution after the turbine collapse, and said an investigation was underway to determine the root cause of the incident.
Local farmer Adam Walton told ABC News he was concerned that more of the turbines were going to collapse.
“I thought they were called wind turbines not gentle breeze turbines,” he said.
“It’s not the first one that’s come down and it won’t be the last.”
The collapse is the latest in a serious of incidents plaguing Victoria’s wind farms, including fires, a worker death, and farmers being told to wear hard hats after chunks of serrated metal flew off turbine blades at the Golden Plain Wind Farm, where parts also fell on Tuesday.
Member for Polwarth Richard Riordan said the Labor state government should carry out an “instant audit” of Victoria’s wind farms.
“With thousands of these Rialto tall towers across a fire prone landscape and close to roads and communities the fear of uncontrolled fires and random collapses must be dealt with,” he told the Herald Sun.
“How many don’t have fire suppression? Was yesterday’s collapse a one off? Or a structural flaw?
“Labor’s energy transition should not be putting country communities at risk.”
Wind farms and proposals for new sites have caused community backlash across Australia, including in Oberon, NSW, where a farm will desecrate an Anzac memorial drive, and in Western Australia where 1,300 turbines are proposed for an offshore project.
Header image credit: Lismore & District Rural Fire Brigades’ Group (Facebook)
