Turbine collapses at wind farm in Oklahoma

The collapse was discovered on Tuesday (25 February) at the 351.8MW Frontier II wind farm near Kildare in Kay County, northern Oklahoma. 

Images posted online by the Kildare fire department, which responded to the incident, showed a single wind turbine crumpled in a field while others around it appeared intact. 

A spokesperson for the department told Windpower Monthly that the collapse happened around 7am, and that no one was hurt. 

The project comprises 74 turbines of Nordex’s N149/4.XMW platform. 

A spokesperson for the of German turbine manufacturer confirmed there were no injuries, stating: “On 25 February 2025 an incident occurred at the Frontier II wind farm in Oklahoma, US. A turbine was found collapsed on the ground. The turbine was installed in 2020. The damage was identified in the morning. Nobody was injured; only material damage occurred as a result of the incident.” 

The cause of the collapse has not been established so far. 

The Nordex spokesperson added: “The necessary safety measures were implemented immediately after the incident. A team comprising both local Nordex USA employees and experts from Nordex Group have started investigating the root cause of the incident in close collaboration with the customer.

Frontier II came online in 2021 and is operated by Deriva Energy, a subsidiary of the renewables division of US asset management firm Brookfield. 

A Derivaspokesperson said: “We can confirm a turbine collapsed at Frontier II Wind. All employees are safe and accounted for, and the site is secure. The plant remains safe and operational.  An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the collapse.” 

Oklahoma is one of the top three US states for the amount of electricity it generates from wind. According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) data, the state produced 42% of its electricity from wind energy in 2023. 

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