Wind turbines stopped by power fault

A power fault has shut down nearly a quarter of the turbines at Little Cheyne Court on Romney Marsh - the biggest onshore wind farm in the south of England - just a month after it was officially opened.

By Andy BloxhamPublished: 8:00AM BST 15 Aug 2009

Transformers at the base of the turbines have been removed and returned to Belgium
Seven out of the 26 wind turbines on the isolated land on the Kent-East Sussex border have been hit by technical problems.
Transformers at the base of the turbines have been removed and returned to Belgium, RWE npower renewables, which constructed the site, said in a statement.

It said: ''All major work has been completed at Little Cheyne Court wind farm. However, there have been technical problems with some of the transformers.
''The problems with the transformers are not pertinent to wind turbine technology but associated with the high-voltage circuit.''
The firm added that replacement transformers would be delivered in mid-September and the site fully operational by mid-October.
The remaining 19 turbines were said to be running normally at the site, which was opened by Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband on July 13.
He said Britain needed to harness all technologies such as wind, fuel and clean coal to help meet challenging targets and counter the threat of climate change.
Permission was granted by the Government for RWE npower renewables to construct the £60 million wind farm in 2005 following a public inquiry.
Each of the 26 wind turbines at the site is 377ft (115m) high and weighs more than 275 tonnes.
It will eventually generate enough clean electricity to meet the average annual needs of some 33,000 homes.