Vineyard Wind, GE Vernova set out action plan after blade damage

Developer Vineyard Wind, a joint venture between Avangrid (NYSE:AGR) and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, and manufacturer GE Vernova on Friday released a plan to remove the remainder of the damaged blade at 806-MW Vineyard Wind 1 off Massachusetts and resume turbine installation and operations at the project.

A root cause analysis undertaken by GE Vernova has preliminarily determined that a manufacturing deviation is the likely root cause of the blade incident, the companies said. The issue should have been identified through the quality assurance process at the blade manufacturing facility.

GE Vernova’s CEO and director Scott Strazik already provided details around the blade damage during an earnings call last month.

The blade removal plan includes rotating the blade to reduce hanging blade and possible controlled cutting, removing the root of the blade from the hub and removing debris from the platform and the seabed.

Blades will be returned to service or installed after a thorough inspection, which will involve re-reviewing ultrasound photos, conducting internal visual inspection with remote-controlled wheeled drones called “crawlers”, as well as real-time by deploying a new algorithm that uses existing sensors in the blade.

“We believe we have the right plan in place to recover the rest of the blade, secure any debris offshore and onshore, and safely and responsibly resume the installation program so we can put this project back on track to deliver needed clean power to the New England region,” said Vineyard Wind CEO Klaus S Møller.

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