Source: Radio New Zealand
Emergency services responded around 5pm on Sunday. RNZ / Rob Dixon
Half of Mercury’s Tararua wind farm in Palmerston North was taken offline for hours on Sunday evening after a wind turbine caught fire.
A Mercury spokesperson said half of the wind farm was taken offline while the affected turbine was removed from service and the rest of the farm returned to full service around 10pm.
Emergency services had responded to the fire after a member of the public alerted them.
“The fire was contained to a single turbine and a small number of minor ground fires, all of which were quickly extinguished,” the Mercury spokesperson said.
“There was no one near the turbine at the time and no injuries.”
Fire and Emergency New Zealand said they were called to the scene around 5pm on Sunday and crews left before 6pm.
“We responded with crews from Ashhurst and from Palmerston North.”
“The wind turbine put itself out”
Mercury expects the wind farm to return to full operation tomorrow, excluding the affected turbine and the cause of the fire will be investigated in the coming days.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand