Wind

Vineyard Wind says it is resuming construction

The blade incident at Vineyard Wind, a joint venture of Avangrid and Vineyard Offshore, has been a major setback for the first industrial scale wind farm in the United States.
Vineyard Wind says it is resuming construction
(A GE Haliade-X Turbine Stands in the Vineyard Wind 1 Project Area South of Martha’s Vineyard. Photo Credit: Worldview Films)

By Bruce Mohl, CommonWealth Beacon

Vineyard Wind said it has obtained federal approval to resume construction of the wind farm – work that was suspended following the partial collapse of a previously installed turbine blade on July 13.

A press release issued at 7 a.m. Tuesday morning said the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement had given the developers of the wind farm permission to resume the installation of towers and nacelles (which sit atop the tower and convert wind energy into electricity), but a suspension remains in effect for turbine blades and power generation.

Vineyard Wind is a 62-turbine project and only 24 had been completed at the time of the accident. Work is resuming on the remaining 38 turbines but blades cannot be installed nor power produced under the terms of the revised suspension order. Of the 24 completed turbines, 11 were generating electricity at the time of the incident and 13, including the one that broke, were undergoing testing.

In a joint press release, Vineyard Wind and GE Vernova, the manufacturer of the wind turbines, said a barge departed the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal Tuesday morning for the wind farm carrying turbine components, including several tower sections and one nacelle.

“The vessel will also carry a rack of three blades solely for the purpose of ensuring safe and balanced composition for the transport,” the press release said, adding that the blades will not be installed and will be returned to New Bedford later in the week.  

The press release said the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement revised its suspension order after examining records and a structural load analysis conducted by a third party. The federal agency had no mention of a revised suspension order on its website Tuesday morning.

Vineyard Wind and GE Vernova also said “a substantial amount” of what remained of the damaged blade was cut away on Sunday and Monday.

“During the operations, Vineyard Wind and GE Vernova mobilized maritime crews on multiple vessels nearby to secure as much debris as possible for immediate containment and removal as well as land-based crews managing debris recovery,” the press release said. ”Vineyard Wind and GE Vernova are currently assessing next steps to complete any additional cutting necessary at the earliest opportunity, secure and remove the debris on the turbine platform, remove the blade root, and address the debris on the seabed.”

The blade incident at Vineyard Wind, a joint venture of Avangrid and Vineyard Offshore, has been a major setback for the first industrial scale wind farm in the United States. Foam and fiberglass from the turbine has washed up on Nantucket and other beaches on the Cape and Martha’s Vineyard and raised questions about wind energy at a time when the industry is trying to ramp up production.

A preliminary investigation by GE Vernova has suggested the blade breakdown was caused by a “manufacturing deviation” – specifically insufficient bonding of the blade materials. The company has indicated no problems with the design of the Haliade-X blade, which is 853 feet tall.

It was unclear when Nantucket officials were notified about the resumption of construction of the wind farm. Updates posted on the town website indicated the Select Board was aware of the efforts beginning on Sunday to remove more of the damaged turbine blade.

During an executive session on Thursday, the Select Board met to discuss “strategy with respect to potential litigation in connection with Vineyard Wind,” according to the agenda.

This article first appeared on CommonWealth Beacon and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.