Wind turbine collapse in Cape Breton believed to be a Canadian first

Two investigations have been launched into the collapse of an 80-metre wind turbine in Cape Breton, believed to be the first catastrophic failure of its kind in Canada.

Montreal-based Enercon Canada Inc. confirmed Wednesday that workers were told to leave the tower before it buckled and toppled into a tangled heap on Aug. 17.

Spokeswoman Karine Asselin said it remains unclear what happened when Enercon employees were replacing a component as part of regular maintenance at the Point Tupper wind farm near Port Hawkesbury, N.S.

“All of our employees were evacuated and no one got injured,” she said in an interview. “And then the turbine collapsed.”

The Canadian Wind Energy Association issued a statement saying it was not aware of a similar failure among the more than 6,000 wind turbines in Canada.

Enercon Canada, a subsidiary of Enercon GmbH in Germany, said it has installed almost 1,000 wind turbines in seven provinces in the past 15 years, and this is the first time one of them has collapsed.

“This incident did not occur during regular operations and is undoubtedly an isolated one,” Enercon said in a statement released Aug. 19.

Nova Scotia’s Labour Department has started an investigation, and Enercon has dispatched a technical team to the site.

The wind farm is owned and operated by Renewable Energy Services Ltd., based in Lower Sackville, N.S. Chief financial officer Kevin Doucette said he couldn’t comment on what happened because he was waiting for Enercon’s report.