Rotor blade disaster: 70 meters fall in Lübbenow!

Rotor blade disaster: 70 meters fall in Lübbenow!

On June 24, 2025, a dramatic incident occurred in the Lübbenow wind farm in the Uckermark. A rotor blade of a V150 wind turbine, over 70 meters long and located at a height of 123 meters, broke off and fell to the ground. The rotor blade broke into numerous individual pieces. The operator, Notus energie Service GmbH & Co. KG from Potsdam, commented on the incident on July 4th and informed that the investigation into the cause of the damage has not yet been completed. Decisions about repairing the affected turbine can only be made once these investigations have been completed. However, Notus announced that no similar incident has been recorded on V150 rotor blades to date Northern Courier reported.

The incident raises questions about the safety of wind turbines and joins a worrying series of technical defects. There have already been major problems in connection with wind turbines in Germany in recent years. In January 2017, a rotor blade broke near Zichow, and in 2016 there was an entire tower collapse in Grimmen. Safety standards were also massively questioned in the Ruhr area, where 18 identical turbines collapsed in 2021 due to a design error. The Brandenburg Ministry for the Environment documented five accidents within two and a half years by August 2023, which signals a complete need for action, as seen from the site Iowa Climate is highlighted.

Safety situation of wind turbines

Although there are around 30,000 wind turbines in Germany and incidents such as overturns or rotor blade break-offs are rare, these events often attract a lot of media attention. The Federal Wind Energy Association (BWE) has been keeping internal damage statistics since 2005, which show that a total of 134 damage events were recorded by May 2024. These include 67 fires, 30 rotor blade breaks, 9 turbines that collapsed and 5 nacelle and wing crashes. The TÜV Association estimates that around 50 serious cases of damage occur every year, including towers that collapse and rotor blades that burst, which are usually caused by external influences such as storms or lightning strikes. Given these numbers, it is clear that the technical challenges and safety issues in the field of wind power are far from being solved juwi shows.

In parallel to these safety concerns, there are also more and more voices that are focusing on noise pollution from wind turbines. Especially when there are northwesterly winds, residents suffer from noise pollution, which can also affect restaurants and tourism. The rapid expansion of wind turbines is often accompanied by inadequate control systems, which is why the challenges are not only technical but also social.

While the investigation into the recent incident in Lübbenow is still ongoing, it is hoped that safety standards for wind turbines will be thoroughly revised to prevent future incidents and ensure the trust of local residents.