COPENHAGEN, April 11 (Reuters) - A Siemens Gamesa wind turbine blade weighing 22 metric tons fell off the machinery on Wednesday but no one was hurt, the Odal Vind wind farm in Norway said, a month after it halted several of the company's turbines because of blade damage.

The 72 metre (236 ft) blade was from a Siemens Gamesa 5.0-145 turbine, part of the turbine maker's 4.X platform, a spokesperson for the wind farm told Reuters on Thursday.

Wednesday's incident is the latest challenge for Siemens Energy (ENR1n.DE) New Tab, opens new tab after what shareholders say was a botched takeover of turbine maker Gamesa, forcing it to seek billions of euros in state-backed guarantees.

Odal Vind said last month it had already stopped 15 of the wind farm's 34 turbines because of blade damage linked to a production problem.

"A crisis team has been established, and technical personnel from Siemens Gamesa are currently on site," Cloudberry Clean Energy (CLOUD.OL) New Tab, opens new tab, which owns a 33.4% stake in the wind farm, said in a statement.

Siemens Gamesa warned last year of quality problems at its onshore unit, with most of the issues linked to certain rotor blades and main bearings at its two most recent wind turbine platforms, the 4.X and 5.X.

"It is still too early to say anything on the cause of the incident," the Odal Vind spokesperson said, declining to comment on whether the incident was linked to the previously reported quality issues.

"As usual in such cases, we have started the safety protocol and stopped the turbines at the wind farm ... We now need to investigate the cause of this incident and are in contact with the customer to do so," Siemens Gamesa said in an emailed comment.

Siemens Energy, the world's largest maker of offshore wind turbines, expects a 2024 loss before special items of around 2 billion euros at Siemens Gamesa.

Siemens Energy CEO Christian Bruch said in February that the quality issues at Siemens Gamesa's onshore business surfaced on the basis of empirical usage data of newer turbines that had not been available at the time of the takeover.

Cloudberry said the incident was covered by Odal Vind's warranties, and was not expected to have any significant financial implications.

The other owners of Odal Vind are Akershus Energi with a 33.4% stake and pension fund KLP with 33.2%.

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https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/siemens-gamesa-wind-turbine-loses-22-ton-blade-norway-2024-04-11/