Why wind turbines stop working when it freezes.
It's been quite cold the last few days. This not only creates wonderful winter landscapes and misery on the roads, but also stops our wind turbines from working.
Last weekend, for example, all Storm wind turbines have stopped working because of the cold weather.
All our wind turbines are equipped with two ice detection systems. One in the blades, and one on top of the gondola. As soon as one of these systems finds ice formation, the wind turbine stops. An automatic message is then sent to the Operations Team, who takes care of the optimal functioning of our operating wind farms.
One of our colleagues then inspects the site. If it appears that no ice is hanging from the blades, the wind turbines are set in motion again.
These have obviously been busy days for our Operations Team ...