Vestas one of the worlds largest manufacturer of wind turbines has suffered some major problems with their turbines.

In the first 18 months of operation at Horns Reef there was only one Half Hour period when all 80 turbines were operational together.

It was then that all 80 Nacelles had to be dismantled and returned to land based workshops for complete refits of Transformers and generators, all problems arose due to the harsh conditions attributed to offshore farms.

The problems encountered are similar to what the company experienced with another one of their offshore farms located at Copenhagen.

Installation of the turbines at Horns Reef  was held up due to problems with the supply and installation ships “Ocean Ady” and “Ocean Hanne”

The ships stabiliser legs experienced snapping wire Load ropes on a regular bases causing the legs to drop unexpectedly, The problem was tracked down to Sheave bearings collapsing due to extreme wear again because of the Harsh conditions. Both ships had to return to shipyards for repair.

In the first 18 months of operation at Kentish Flats the same company experienced a problem with over a third of its turbines Gearboxes necessitating in major rebuilds.

Again in 2007 at Thanet wind farm Vestas withdrew its “Offshore Model” gearbox due to unspecified problems.

It is not just Vestas who can’t seem to get it right. Siemens experienced problems at Burbo Bank when a major majority of the turbines had to have all their blades removed for the replacement of their pitch control bearings again due to corrosion suffered by the conditions faced offshore.