A wind turbine has burst into flames in Cambridgeshire – the latest instance of an issue previously described by Imperial College London as a “big problem” that is not being “fully reported”. The Telegraph has the story.
Emergency services were called to Coldham Windfarm in the Fens at around 10am on Sunday as black smoke was seen billowing from one of the eight turbines.
A spokesman for Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service said: “At around 10am on Sunday crews from March and Stanground were called to a fire on March Road in Coldham.
“Firefighters arrived to find a well-developed fire involving a wind turbine. Working with staff on site they made the area safe and allowed the fire to burn out safely.
“The crews left the scene by around 1pm and made regular inspections throughout the day to make sure the area remained safe.
“They will make further inspections this evening and will fully establish the cause of the fire.”
Wind turbine fires are believed to be rare, although accurate statistics are not widely available and there have been several incidents recorded in the UK over the past few years.
The turbines contain some highly flammable materials – such as oil and plastics – that are close to electrical wires. If the machinery is faulty and a spark is ignited, flames can quickly take hold.
A turbine in Chulmleigh, Devon, had its engine destroyed by flames in September 2024, while a turbine at Scroby Sands off the coast of Norfolk burnt until the fire self-extinguished in August 2023.
In Hull, a fire scattered charred debris on the ground near a chemical plant with residents worried that the turbine might have collapsed.
The turbines, which are designed to catch the wind, are exposed to the same flow of oxygen that fuels fire and there are more than 11,000 of them in the UK.
A study by Imperial College London from 2014 described wind turbine fires as a “big problem” that was not being “fully reported”.
Researchers estimated there to be a global average of 11.7 fires each year among the 200,000 wind turbines in existence at the time. That figure has now risen to 341,000, according to the Global Wind Energy Council.
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