MidAmerican Energy idles 46 wind turbines

October 23, 2020 at 10:37 am CDT

A screen shot from a YouTube video uploaded by Shelley Marsh shows the base of a 177-foot wind turbine blade that remains after a portion of it broke off and fell into a neighboring cornfield Sept. 17 or 18 in rural Adair County. After another blade breakage Thursday, MidAmerican has taken 46 of its wind turbines off line. (Contributed photo)

DES MOINES (AP) — An Iowa-based electric utility says it has idled nearly four dozen power-generating wind turbines after huge blades broke off of two turbines in recent weeks. The Des Moines Register reports that MidAmerican Energy has paused the use of 46 turbines it has identified as having similar blades, which are about 177 feet long and weigh 18,000 pounds. The company acknowledged that one blade on a turbine near Paton fell Thursday into an empty field.

In mid-September, another blade on a turbine near Adel crashed into a corn field. Similar incidents were reported in April and in October 2019 at Adair County wind farms. No one was hurt. MidAmerican says it has isolated the issue to blades made by Danish manufacturer Vestas and is working with Vestas.