Vineyard Wind 1 cleared to resume some construction after blade failure

The company’s blade failure also arrives just months before the 2024 presidential election. Some observers worry the incident will add fodder for opponents to 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.