Wind turbine blade crashes down in corn field

An India-based company that made a wind turbine that broke and dropped a 6.5-ton blade into an Illinois corn field this week says it is fixing blades on more than 400 turbines -- most of them in the U.S. -- that could have similar problems.

Suzlon Energy Limited says its fiberglass-coated turbine blades can develop cracks because of a design flaw, something the company says it can fix by adding more fiberglass.

Suzlon said in March that it expected to spend $25 million on the project, but didn't say how long it would take.

The turbine that lost a blade in Wyanet, Ill., about 55 miles north of Peoria, was set to be worked on next week, said Richard Schertz; he lives on and farms the property where that turbine and three others -- also due to be worked on -- stand.

"I didn't even know what had happened," Schertz said on Friday. "I stepped out the door here at the house and heard a terrific noise. I couldn't figure out what it was -- 'Crash! bang!'"

The blade, which the company says is about 140 feet long, flew at least 150 feet away from the turbine and landed in the corn field, Schertz said. No one was hurt and nothing was damaged.

The turbines are owned by a company called AgriWind, said a spokeswoman for Suzlon Energy's Chicago subsidiary, Suzlon Wind Energy Corp. A phone listing for that AgriWind could not be located.

Suzlon Energy says the Illinois accident is the second involving one of its turbines in the past year. Similarly, a blade on a turbine in Minnesota broke loose. No one was injured and nothing was damaged in that incident, either, the company said.

About 30,000 turbines are operating in the U.S., according to the American Wind Energy Association, and, with the push to find alternative energy, more are being added all the time in windy areas like central and northern Illinois.

Proposals that would added dozens of new turbines have been floated this year across the state.

The American Wind Energy Association doesn't track turbine failures, but says that, based on anecdotal evidence, accidents are relatively rare.

"Wind turbine failures do happen," association spokeswoman Christine Real de Azua said. "They're subject to what can be a challenging environment.

"Overall, the record is very strong in terms of safety and reliability."

According to the Department of Labor, there have been 75 wind-turbine accidents involving injuries since 1972 -- including one so far this year and eight in 2007. But the agency doesn't track accidents, like the one this week, that don't hurt or kill someone.

One of the other turbines on the property Schertz farms has been shut down since early summer because of a cracked blade.

But the accident aside, Schertz says he doesn't mind living and farming near the turbines.

"I like them," he said. "People get all excited about (the accident), but hey, it's just a procedure they've got to take care of."