Greater Changhua 4 Turbine Taken Offline After Fire, Ørsted Says

A fire was reported on a wind turbine at Ørsted’s Greater Changhua 4 offshore wind farm in Taiwan on 8 August after the turbine’s system detected an abnormal condition and automatically stopped its operation.  

Ørsted said the wind farm team observed the fire shortly after the automatic trip and extinguished it. No personnel were injured, and the company notified the relevant authorities and key stakeholders.

The affected turbine was taken out of service and disconnected from the transmission system as part of the safety measures implemented following the incident. It remains shut down, while a safety exclusion zone has been established around it.

The rest of the wind farm continues to operate normally, according to Ørsted.

The company is investigating the incident together with Siemens Gamesa, which supplied 66 SG 14-236 DD wind turbines for the 920 Greater Changhua 2b & 4, the first project to use this Siemens Gamesa model.

An investigation plan and a subsequent repair plan have been prepared, but the root cause has not yet been established, Ørsted said on 21 August.

The company emphasised that the turbine’s safety systems are designed to detect abnormal conditions and stop automatically so the wider wind farm is not affected.

“Offshore wind farms are designed with multiple layers of safety protection and equipment isolation mechanisms. When an individual piece of equipment detects an abnormal condition, it can be stopped and isolated immediately, preventing the incident from affecting other turbines or the wind farm’s overall operation”, Ørsted said.

According to Taiwanese media, Taiwan’s Energy Administration said that Ørsted reported the incident to the authority at around 07:00 on 8 August. The authority said the damage was limited to the turbine and that there were no injuries, and has asked Ørsted to determine the cause and implement the necessary repairs.

Ørsted said it remains in dialogue with the competent authorities and other stakeholders as the investigation progresses, and that all actions will prioritise personnel and operational safety and avoiding impacts on the surrounding marine environment.

Wind turbine installation on Greater Changhua 2b & 4 was completed in January.

In May this year, the developer announced that all inter-array cables were installed and energised, and all 42 wind turbines at Greater Changhua 4 were connected to Taipower’s grid and generating electricity.

Once fully operational, which is expected in the third quarter of 2026, Greater Changhua 2b and 4 will supply renewable electricity to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC) under a corporate power purchase agreement (CPPA) signed in 2020.

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