10 Wind Turbine Failures Caught On Camera 

Clean energy, filthy damage. They're an absolute blight on the surrounding countryside, in my opinion.

10:50 --- oh the sweet sweet irony EIGHT HUNDRED GALLONS OF OIL in a wind turbine!! HAHHAAAAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!

I like how when he was talking about the recyclable components, he didn't say anything about the blades. Which are largely composite and can't be recycled. They're disposed of by digging a long, deep hole and shoving them in. Someone else's problem for another time.

I don’t think controlled demolition should be in a list of failures.

India should also try to be a world leader in holding its rivers clean

No. 9 - the generator went of line leaving the blades free wheeling with no load. The controls should have feathered the blades and used the brakes to stop rotation. Imagine how many failures there have been that weren't caught on camera!

I would prefer that old turbines come down to make way for something functional as an energy source, rather than another pointless pat yourself on the back for saving the planet icon.

Imagine all the fails that weren't caught on camera 😂

I was waiting for the #1 clip to be of the turbine that caught on fire with the 2 guys still trapped on top of it. To this day, it's still one of the most tragic, saddest clips I've ever seen of a turbine failure. The fear, the horror and the eventual despair those two men must have felt, trapped up there, knowing there was nothing in the world that could save them...... so incredibly sad.

Wonder just how many AREN'T caught on Camera ?

I love seeing them self distruct.

I lived on Fort Huachuca from 2013-2018. That wind turbine never ran while I was there. It never worked. Also, it was on the fort, but outside the cantonment area. Also, Fort Huachuca, unlike the rest of Southern Arizona doesn't get that hot due to the elevation. It seldomly hits 100°

Do politicians still get kick back $ if wind mill fails?

Really makes you think why you've never seen such an accident on TV...

What about the acres of fiberglass blades that can't be reused, or recycled?

You are wrong about the recycling: When wind farms reach their life spans (15 to 20 years) the old small generators are no longer wanted as new larger ones are more profitable(tongue in cheek as wind farms are NOT profitable and have to be subsidized!!) So the old ones are torn down, new larger concrete blocks put in the ground, new larger taller towers attached, and new larger generators and blades installed. Nothing of the old unit is worth recycling except perhaps the copper in the generator and even that may be too labor intensive to do as it has to be removed and melted down and re-extruded. Blades never last for the "life of the whole unit because the leading edges of the fiberglass blades deteriorate in about 8 years and have to be replaced! There is no good scenario here: these things are capital intensive and high maintenance, no recycling, and the ground on which a wind farm sits is usually leased at premium rates from the owners!! Again, wind energy is not free, it is so expensive that it has to be subsidized. Wind is capricious, so if you want an average of lets say 100 MW output, you have to build a farm with a capacity of 400 MW (because the average production is 25% of capacity). Can you imagine building a coal or NG power plant with a 400 MW capacity (which it can produce 24/7 350 days per year) and then throttling it back to a max of 100MW?!! The Power company would say that is crazy, and it is, but they don't say it about wind!! Furthermore the coal or NG plants can produce their power any time you want it. Wind farms are at the mercy of when the wind blows and that does not always coincide with demand!

There used to be a discipline that took every possibility for everything that could go wrong and took the time to figure out how to avoid these disasters. That discipline was called engineering.

The amount of steel, concrete and copper in a windmill makes you question how *clean* they are

These huge windmills are not recycled here in Texas. They are usually buried. In other places there are graveyards for them. They are not recyclable.

A massive windmill made of steel and fiberglass that is a blight on the countryside, shreds birds, and has to be rebuilt every 20 years really doesn't seem all that green.

No. 2 ....So they only got seven years of service for their $2.8 million turbine. Curious to know whether it produced $400,000 worth of electricity per year to break even. The ones on the wind farms are bigger and much more expensive, and they are replacing them after 20 years or less. How is that supposed to be SUSTAINABLE?

Imagine all the fails that weren't caught on camera . I had never realized how gigantic these things are ! SCARY !.

Really good for the environment, the massive amount of concrete to anchor them, the energy that goes into making and mining all the copper and other metals needed, the chemicals to make the fiberglass blades the amount of oil needed to operate them, the fact that the blades can't be recycled, yep real environmentally friendly.

They never tell you that it takes more money to make a windmill than the windmill will ever put out in it's life time of use .

The blades are not recyclable they just bury them and hope for the best. Very good for the environment I think.

I had never realized how gigantic these things are ! SCARY !

Whether we like it or not, "Clean energy" has an impact on our lives.

Yes , all of that is keeping the planet GREEN !!!!!

My 1st like is for the narrator.....2nds for the epic content 🎉❤

Who would have ever thought each wild mill turbine would have 800 gallons of oil in them. Wow now we know were all the extra oil went to.

400 gallons of oil in the gear box and 1,300 in the ground level transformer, that sure will be good for the water / environment when they have problems. They are thinking of putting 50 wind turbines between Buffalo, NY and Cleveland, Ohio. These are not as green as they want you to think

12:38 No, the blades can't be recycled. They are composite carbon and fiberglass over balsa or foam core. the blades are chopped to somewhat manageable sections and hauled off to be buried in the desert. The carbon fiber and fiberglass are petrochemical products. Thousands of gallons of petrochemical products per blade.

Always funny to see how something going exactly as planned is still called a failure.

The trouble is that the entire wind turbine industry is unprofitable, the companies are being propped-up with middle-class CO2 taxes and with this 'cheap' and 'easily' acquired money provided without question, the safety rules are fairly sloppy especially with the train collision.

Quick question…how many natural gas-powered electrical plants self-destruct in high winds?

Tell me, how much energy does it take to manufacture a working turbine? And how many years does a turbine need to run for to recoup the energy it took to make it and erect it?

This is the visual representation of HUBRIS.

You cannot recycle fibre glass which they make the blades out of that end up in landfills! 🤨

Essex county in Ontario, Canada has a lot of wind turbines. If you ever pay attention to them if you're driving through the area, approximately 1/3 of them have burn marks all over them on the blades as well as around the gearbox.

Wait….he said the reason there was such a fire was that there was 800 GALLONS OF OIL IN THE GEARBOX!

The train driver must have felt satisfied for his good deed for the day.

All I ever saw was higher power bills,even with solar.Worst part is they are nothing but an eyesoar.

I remember in the 80s or 90s there was a piece of video that showed large birds getting whacked by each blade of one. Between Carmel and Interstate 5 along Hwy 41 and 46.

I have an irrational fear of these damn things. So what do I do? Reinforce that fear with videos like these, of course!

I have to laugh at the term clean energy. Sorta like the environmentally friendly lithium mines for EV's.

And just where do you suppose that over a thousand gal per tower went when that thing hit the ground??

How in the world can a controlled demolition be possibly considered any sort of a 'failure???"

The oil that these things use for lubrication has to be replaced once a year - and is made from crude!

For the record, the fiberglass parts cannot be recycled! they are filling landfills at an alarming rate. Those blades are IMMENSE!!!!

Ah, I never expected to see the Ft. Huachuca turbine. I worked on Ft. Huachuca and lived in Sierra Vista nearly 25 years. I drove and rode my bike past this turbine daily after it was constructed....we moved from there about a year or so after it was constructed.....we lived literally right down the road from there.

"OH MY GOD,OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD". Very intelligent.

All of those black, smokey fires look great for the environment !

Here we are, 2023, & we , as it is clearly apparent, are dumber than ever.

Good episode overall, but planned demolition isn't a failure.

I have a "wind farm " I have one 1/4 mile east of me. Noise pollution, and flicker is bothersome.

I shudder to think how much that turbine blade that got destroyed by the train cost the truck driver or his company, not to mention the hospital bill for the train workers

I'm missing something, I guess. How were the planned demolitions in several of these examples "failures"?

I love watching those things fail, they’re monstrosities, and not all that green.

Now that is quality you can trust on a frozen night.

Вот в чом красота зелёной энергетики.

Not to mention, wind turbine parts are buried in the ground like solar panels when they're no longer of use.

The blades cannot be recycled yet and are buried in landfills. The average lifespan of a turbine is 12 years

So the turbine fire created more pollution than the wind farm ever prevented.

"No one loves to see a wind turbine on fire" thats exactly not why i am here 😂

With all those fires that’s what I really call. Clean energy. Great job guys keep up the great work.

I'm impressed by your pronunciation of "Aarhus" Denmark... wow, spot on ! Fun fact: Denmark houses the largest wind turbine producer in the world, Vestas.

Turbine gearboxes only hold around 90 gallons of oil. “800 gallons” is an outrageous overstatement.

And what about the toxic dust or smoke when those turbines go?

That last one, #1, I swear that turbine falls down _exactly_ like one of those *crazy, incredible, wild & waving, flailing & inflatable tube guys* you see at car lots, grand openings, and go-kart tracks. It was pretty comical. 😁😄😆😄😆😄😆

The way these things explode is horrific.

Clean energy.....one heck of a carbon footprint.

Is that thick black smoke the clean energy? Looks good to me. You have my approval!

2:30 I guess that created a power surge??😅

They put 50 turbines up in one area. I have asked for 6 years. “How much did it cost to plan, build this system? After completion how much energy is produced per year? What is yearly maintenance costs? What is life of turbines?” They can't tell me. (Or won’t)

How do these massive turbines end up spinning so fast ? I mean it's as though the wind speed is 500 mph. The outer part of the blades must be traveling 500 or 600 miles per hour. Can someone in the know tell me how that is possible ?

this video had my head spinning, or was that just the blades.

Boy can I relate to 9&10! The 1KW turbine I *had* in my backyard (yeah, tiny in comparison to these) went buh-bye when the winds here got really crazy one night. Snapped one blade off, which resulted in a massive balance upset. It snapped the 2-1/2" steel pipe, throwing it all to the ground leaving nothing but the blade hub. Found a blade chunk about 60ft away. Luckily it missed hitting my shop as it came down, and it "aimed" for the open backyard.

Here in Brazil, the propellers of wind turbines are able to rotate on their own axis, so in storms they assume a null position and thus the turbine stops rotating to avoid accidents.

the windmill doubles the terewa 260 plots, which required 300 tons or iron ore and 170 tons of coking coal, all of which are mined, transported and produced with hydrocarbons. The part holds 700 gallons (~2700 liters) of oil and hydraulic fluid, and like cars, these must be changed at the mills from 9 o'clock. People like to love the idea that we can run happily in the sunshine and wind on our own, but with a trillion dollar mythical mega-batteries, one can run while it breaks down over and over again and never gets as much back as what was invested in building it.

These monstrosities are an ugly blot on the landscape! If we must have them (I am unconvinced), at least put them well out to sea, out of sight. This video, of some coming down, brought me great joy!

03:30 The Luling clip had destroyed a business when the blade hit the building, lucky no one died. The blade was longer than the two intersection about 40 feet light to light with tracks in the middle

The nominal power of wind turbines is only theoretical. Their contribution to electricity production is typically much smaller - and purely random - depending on whether the wind is blowing, how hard it is blowing, or whether there is no wind.

Just imagine all that oil in the gear box hitting the ground and soaking in. Clean energy, my left hind leg.

I thought wind turbines were supposed to last.

I’m pretty sure the blade that was crossing railroad tracks doesn’t appreciate being included as a failure.

"Green energy, man!" "800 gallons of oil......"

Well, you have to admit that a few wind turbine failures ain't no Chernobyl.

When most wind turbines are the size of a Saturn 5 rocket that sent men to the moon, lightning has a field day with them.

Turbine blade and the Train-- I know a truck driver who delivers those blades. They are so long, they need a second driver at the rear of the blade to stear the tail end as the turn. That little rear vehicle was hit by the train. Since there were no major injuries, I guess he jumped out in time.

The blades go to a landfill because they can't be recycled.

done 180 but 250 is an whole other world. great work.

I love how wind turbines don't like wind

The smoke for #4 was "thick and black" because the blades are made largely of composite materials, epoxy, balsa wood and fiberglass. Those things do not burn cleanly. That smoke was putting some nasty chemicals in the air.

FYI--- The turbine blades aren't recyclable, they're fiberglass.

LOL so there millions of Wind Turbines and we found 10 that failed . That nice :=)

In the clip beginning at around the 9:57 mark, did anyone else notice the black object falling out the clouds to the left of that lightning strike? There are actually THREE black objects that I could see falling, and in different places. That was so bizarre!

@4:00 The truck escort should have some means of comms with the RR. or at least their schedule. I think that's his JOB... to anticipate problem areas and address them.

The driver pulling the turbine blade across the choo-choo tracks wasn't impatient. He badly misjudged the turn and couldn't complete it without taking one of the gates and signal lights down.

The hills are alive with the sound of burning turbines

10:54 wow over 2000 gallons of oil in one of these! I thought this crap was supposed to pull us away from oil useage😂