Vineyard Resumes Blade Installation Five Months After Fracture
The Vineyard Wind offshore wind farm being developed by Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners resumed blade installation last weekend five months after it was forced to suspend operations due to one blade fracturing. The project which is working with GE Vernova received permission from federal regulators for the work to proceed on a “case-by-case” basis and notified Nantucket’s elected official of the plans to resume blade installation.
A spokesperson for the wind farm developer confirmed to the local media in Massachusetts that it had received initial permission from the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement which is responsible for oversight of the construction and operation of offshore wind farms. Previously, the regulators were only permitting cabling work, and then in late October permission was received to resume installing the additional monopile foundations with the DEME’s vessel Orion expected to resume work on or about October 28.
The initial clear was given for three blades after they completed intensive inspections which were also verified by an independent certified verification agent. Each turbine has three 351-foot-long blades. BSEE indicated to the local media around Martha’s Vineyard that it was requiring stringent safety and operation conditions before the work could proceed. The wind farm is located about 14 miles south of the Vineyard.
The notification to Nantucket was reported on December 13. The following day, Saturday, reports said offshore work started for the installation of the next three blades.
The fracture was initially reported on July 13 forcing the wind farm and installation efforts to be suspended. Parts of the blade landed on the tower while other debris landed in the ocean and began washing up on area beaches. Additional parts of the blade failed creating widespread concern as more fiberglass and other composite material washed ashore.
GE Vernova latest said the failure was due to a bonding problem in the manufacturing process which should have been detected by quality control. It was forced to launch a survey and review the quality surveys for all the blades while saying it believed the problem was limited in scope.
Shortly before the failure, Vineyard Wind had reported the wind farm while still under construction had already become the largest operating offshore wind farm in the United States. As of early July, the report said 10 turbines had been commissioned with the wind farm sending 136 MW of energy onto the Massachusetts power grid.
Status updates said 21 turbines in total were in place or preparing for commissioning out of a planned 62-turbine project. As of early July, a total of 47 foundations with transition pieces were reported to be in place.
The company declined earlier this week to provide updates to the local media on the status of the construction. Further blade installations will proceed only after each one has completed the verification process.