SSE about to commence debris recovery from damaged Viking blade
SSE Renewables has confirmed it will be replacing the damaged blade at one of the Viking wind farm turbines in the first half of January.
Concern has been raised as to when operator SSE was going to recover debris from the damaged turbine.
Photos shared on the Sustainable Shetland Facebook page at the weekend showed how pieces that have been coming off the damaged blade had been left strewn over a wide area.
The company said in a statement on Thursday that preparatory work with turbine manufacturer Vestas to recover the debris safely had been ongoing for some time.
It did not provide a reason why the blade failed just months after being installed.
“These works have now been completed, allowing us to commence the next phase of debris recovery,” a spokesperson for the company said.
“We will deploy a specialist contractor to undertake the comprehensive recovery of debris in the area.
“Recovery will be completed ahead of the installation of a replacement blade at the turbine in the first half of January, subject to weather and safe working conditions.”
The blade failure was first reported on 30 October.
Ongoing generation at the wind farm was unaffected, the company said.
Sustainable Shetland chair Frank Hay said the time between the damage occurring and recovering the debris shows “callous disregard for the environment”.
“Why on earth are they being allowed to get away with this? he asked.
“There still seems to be no reason forthcoming from SSE for the blade failure, they must know by now, a month or so on from it happening.
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“Many people felt that the whole lot should have been shut down until the reason for the failure was established.”
The SSE Renewables spokesperson added: “We’d like to thank the local community for their patience at this time and remind members of the public to continue to adhere to our site safety restrictions and exclusion zones while this process is ongoing.”
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