An Australian Antarctic research station is now relying solely on diesel power generation after a wind turbine collapsed overnight.
Expeditioners at Mawson station discovered the head of the 30-metre Enercon E30 turbine had fallen to the ground about 9:00pm on Tuesday.
The Australian Antarctic Division's general manager of support and operations, Dr Rob Wooding, said he was thankful no-one was injured in the incident.
"Thankfully all expeditioners were safely inside and it didn't land near any buildings or other equipment," he said.
"They heard the noise, they went out, and saw that this had happened."
Dr Wooding said the cause of the collapse was unclear, as weather conditions had been moderate over the last few days.
"We have no idea what the cause of it is yet," he said.
"The winds at Mawson are always quite strong at night, so they were up to about 40 knots, but that's not, by Mawson standards, especially strong."
Dr Wooding said the turbine was one of two on the station, but both had been deactivated as a precaution while investigations continued.
"We use turbines at Mawson to supplement our diesel-powered power station, and they can provide up to 95 per cent of the station's power on any given day," he said.
The pair of turbines had been in operation since 2003 and usually provided about half of the station's power each year.
"That's a good energy efficiency ... and cost-saving measure for us, but we do have enough diesel power available at the station to meet all our electricity needs," Dr Wooding said.
