In the Netherlands, German wind company Tacke Windtechnik is reverting to using blades from its traditional supplier, Abeking and Rasmussen. The decision follows the failure in September of a carbon fibre blade supplied by French company Atout Vent. (Windpower Monthly, October 1996) on a Tacke TW 60 turbine. The six other Tacke units in Holland with Atout Vent blades were shut down pending investigation. Tacke is now replacing the Atout Vent blades with those from Abeking and Rasmussen of Germany. According to Arthur Vermeulen of Tacke's Dutch agent, Hollink, the cause of the failure has not yet been established. Atout Vent disputes that its blade design is at fault. A joint investigation is now being conducted in co-operation with Germanischer Lloyd. Atout Vent rotors were originally installed on Tacke machines in Holland in July this year because the standard Abeking and Rasmussen blades had no certification in the Netherlands. Following the rotor failure, Germanischer Lloyd has now approved the Abeking and Rasmussen product according to Dutch certification standards. These were to be installed during October and November. Tacke has also pledged to foot the bill for the kilowatt hours of lost production during the shutdown, which will be estimated on the basis of Dutch wind-index figures.
Correction: ECN (Energie Centrum Nederland) is not, as erroneously reported in October's Windpower Monthly, the agency with overall responsibility for rotor blade certification in the Netherlands.
