Siemens Gamesa Shares Drop as Turbine Parts Fall in the Sea

(Bloomberg) -- Orsted A/S, the world's largest developer of offshore wind farms, is asking authorities to seal off parts of the sea after blades from one of its turbines fell off. Shares of the unit's manufacturer, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy SA, plummeted.

The rotor and three blades fell off a turbine that's part of the Anholt Offshore Wind Farm on Denmark's east coast, Orsted said in a statement. There were no injuries.

It's not unheard of for wind turbines to fall over, though it is rare. A giant machine from Vestas Wind Systems A/S toppled over in Sweden in late 2020. Late last year, a Nordex SE turbine collapsed at a wind park in Germany.

While there's no indication that the issue with the Siemens Gamesa turbine is more than a fluke, Orsted is calling for a to stop maritime traffic near all of its sites that use the machine. That includes another Danish wind park, a handful of sites off the coast of the U.K. and a wind farm in German waters. In Germany, offshore wind farms are already no-sail zones, an Orsted spokesperson said.

“So far, the investigation has not pointed to a systemic cause of the issue, but we have taken this precautionary step as safety is our first priority,” Orsted said in a statement.

Shares of Siemens Gamesa fell by as much as 8.1%, the most in a month based on intraday trading, although shares had already declined 4% before the announcement of the incident. Siemens Gamesa said it is investigating the malfunction.

Orsted's Anholt Offshore Wind Farm is made up of 111 Siemens Gamesa 3.6-megawatt wind turbines. The project was completed in 2013 and provides enough electricity for about 400,000 Danish households.Despite the issue with the one turbine, the rest of the wind park is operating normally.