Wind Turbine Fire Protection Systems

Wind turbine fire protection minimises damage, reduces financial loss and protects surroundings from mechanical fires and lightning strikes.

Wind farm fire protection is critical to prevent extensive damage should a fire break out in a wind turbine.

As the UK and other countries move towards a zero-carbon economy, renewable energy use is on the increase, and wind power is the dominant form of low-carbon generation in the UK. According to the BEIS DUKES 2020 report:

1% of energy generated in the UK in 2019 was renewable
In the same year, wind generation capacity increased 10.7% year-on-year
54% of renewable energy generated in the UK in 2019 came from wind.

There are now 2,292 offshore wind turbines and 8,663 onshore turbines in the UK, according to the RenewableUK Wind Energy Database, which counts projects over 100kW in capacity, and many more are already in use on sites below 100kW.

The number of wind turbines is growing rapidly, and is only set to increase further. This makes preventing fires from taking hold in wind turbines all the more important in protecting both investments and the environment.

Where there is electricity and moving parts, there is an increased risk of sparks or excess heat being generated, due to friction. This puts wind turbine nacelles at significant risk of fire from within, alongside the risk of being struck by lightning. More work is being put into storing wind energy to smooth out supply during variable weather conditions. As such, Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) are often also installed alongside large wind farms and individual turbines, with their own associated fire risks.

Common causes of wind turbine fires include:

Lightning strike
Electrical malfunction
Mechanical malfunction
Poor maintenance.

The turbine nacelle is a particular hotspot, due to the presence of oxygen, sources of ignition (friction, electricity and lighting) and fuels, such as polymer components and lubricating oils.

By installing fire protection for wind turbine nacelles, many incidents could be prevented or contained quickly, to reduce economic losses and avoid unnecessary environmental damage to the surrounding environment.

Fire risks in wind turbines and wind farms

The more wind farms there are, the greater threat wind turbine fires pose to the UK’s energy supply. Wind turbines are often built in remote locations, which offer great potential for energy generation, due to stronger wind speeds, but this can make rapid response difficult.

According to the Global Wind Energy Council’s Annual Wind Report 2019, total global wind generation capacity passed 650GW and rose by 10% from 2018 alone. Of the 60GW of new installations, 6GW (10%) was offshore, a record high.

The UK ranks in the top five markets worldwide for new wind energy installations, and it is the single largest producer of offshore wind. In 2019, UK offshore wind capacity grew by 1.8GW and now accounts for one third of the approx. 30GW of offshore capacity worldwide.

Fires in wind turbines can be catastrophic. According to the International Association for Fire Safety Science (IAFSS), 90% of turbine fires lead to total destruction of the turbine or economic losses due to downtime. Up to 30% of reported turbine accidents in any one year are fire-related, the second biggest cause of incidents after blade failure.

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Our Solution

Dafo Automatic Fire Protection System

The Dafo Fire Protection System is specifically designed, tested and proven to be the best option for robust, reliable, 3rd party accredited, and insurer approved fire protection for plant and machinery enclosures.

It utilises ultra-reliable linear heat detection for fast acting detection to release the Forrex hybrid foam agent. This is atomised via our state-of-the-art nozzle technology which knocks down fire and provides fast cooling to avoid any reignition.

The system gives significant savings in terms cost as it only requires 1 service per year which in turn also reduces down time and it does not lose pressure or give false activations. We offer a 24 hour UK wide call out service and access to our online portal to manage all applications fitted with the system.