Wind blamed for damage to prototype wind turbine

Ninety seconds of wild weather are being blamed for hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage to Windflow Technology's prototype Gebbies Pass wind turbine.

The nine-tonne gearbox and blades plunged 30m from the turbine's tower to the ground in squally conditions on March 10.

The MetService said the kind of sudden wind changes experienced in the area that evening occurred about twelve times a year.

Today Windflow released a summary report, which said stronger bolts could have helped, but might only have caused the windmill to fail elsewhere in "a gross-overload situation".

The report said freak winds caused the rotor to become unbalanced, with the wind changing from a 50kmh north-westerly to a 90kmh south-westerly in about 90 seconds.

Acting chief executive Chris Freear said a modified unit would be in place for the resumption of testing by about July.

There would be little or no effect on spin-off company New Zealand Windfarms' $80m capital raising efforts for the Te Rere Hau site near Palmerston North.

- NZPA