August 13, 2024 — A month after an embarrassing incident in which one of the turbine blades broke at the Vineyard Wind offshore wind farm, the developer presented its recovery plan. It is working with the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, as well as the U.S. Coast Guard, and has retained Resolve Marine to assist Vineyard Wind and GE Vernova in the recovery effort. At the same time, residents continue to report finding fragments washed up on the shoreline of Massachusetts.
The project continues to repeat the preliminary assessment that is now completed by GE Vernova which cites a “manufacturing deviation” in the bonding of the composite material used to make the blades. The companies had said it was an identifiable issue with the adhesion that should have been discovered during quality control.
The blade initially broke on July 13 while one of the turbines not in service was undergoing testing. The automated safety controls stopped the individual turbine. Parts of the blade remained attached, while some sections were caught on the base and the remainder fell into the water. Elements of the composite material and the lightweight foam began washing up before the blade broke further in the following days. Work at the wind farm both on the turbines in service and construction was suspended and remains under a stop work order from BSEE.