Vineyard Wind 1 cleared to resume some construction after blade failure

Vineyard Wind 1, the first utility-scale offshore wind farm in Massachusetts, will resume limited construction following a monthlong pause, its developer announced. It’s the project’s first major update since a football-field-size blade snapped off a spinning wind turbine on July 13, scattering foam and fiberglass debris into the waters and shores of Nantucket.

Federal authorities quickly ordered the project to shut down power production and halt any further construction. As of Tuesday, Vineyard Wind 1 has received the green light to continue with the installation of parts ​“not associated with the blade event,” including soaring towers and nacelles, the huge boxes containing a turbine’s generating components. The wind developer is still suspended from producing power and installing new blades, according to an updated order by the Interior Department’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.

The Vineyard Wind 1 project began sending power to the grid this February and had 10 turbines online prior to the blade breaking off. It was slated to finish installing its remaining 52 turbines by the end of this year. Company officials did not respond in time for publication about whether that timeline will need to be updated or when it will produce power for the grid again.

Clean energy advocates had in recent months hailed Vineyard Wind’s construction progress as a sign of ​“offshore wind’s bright future” despite ongoing setbacks faced by the industry, including rising interest rates, inflation, and organized pushback by fossil-fuel-linked groups. The project, a joint venture between the energy company Avangrid and Danish investment firm Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, is expected to produce 800 megawatts of electricity when fully operational, enough to power about 400,000 homes.

Last month’s turbine failure, which happened during a routine testing, has thrown a wrench in the project’s otherwise swiftly advancing progress. Nantucket residents have expressed concerns over the truckloads of debris washing ashore, and a local board meeting last month attracted hundreds of participants calling for greater accountability from the company. Vineyard Wind representatives assured locals that none of the debris is toxic and reaffirmed the company’s commitment to cleaning up all the waste. ​“We have work to do, but we are confident in our ability to implement corrective actions and move forward,” Vineyard Wind told the Boston Herald.

The company’s blade failure also arrives just months before the 2024 presidential election. Some observers worry the incident will give fodder to opponents of offshore wind projects, including former President Donald Trump, who has vowed to terminate approvals for the clean energy source.

According to a preliminary analysis by GE Vernova, the company that produced the faulty turbine, the incident was caused by a manufacturing flaw at one of GE Vernova’s factories in Gaspe, Canada. GE Vernova told Reuters that ​“insufficient bonding” had led to the turbine’s failure, and that it planned to inspect all 150 blades produced by the Canadian facility.

Clean energy experts say that despite the recent high-profile incident, wind power remains one of the safest forms of energy production, and turbine failures are rare. But for new designs, particularly for large turbines that tower hundreds of feet, ​“occasional failures are inevitable as the industry climbs the learning curve,” Indra Mukherjee, a clean energy technology researcher for S&P Global Commodity Insights, told CNN. And manufacturing flaws or damages from transportation in particular can pose risks, Grant Goodrich, the executive director of the Great Lakes Energy Institute, told Grist.

Vineyard Wind also announced on Tuesday that it would continue its debris cleanup process. On Sunday and Monday, the company reported removing ​“a substantial amount of the remaining portions of the damaged blade that pose a risk for further debris falling into the ocean.” Vineyard Wind and GE Vernova officials said they would evaluate other steps needed to secure and remove debris on the turbine platform and the seabed.

Federal agency officials are still conducting an investigation of the factors leading to the Vineyard Wind turbine failure and will release the results publicly once its completed. Meanwhile, the same developer is awaiting word on a proposal for its 1,200-megawatt Vineyard Wind 2 project submitted to Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, which have banded together to jointly procure offshore wind — an energy source seen as key to decarbonizing the region’s power grid.