The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) on Jan. 17 approved Vineyard Wind 1’s plan to remove additional installed blades in the wake of a major blade failure in the summer, while the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) lifted its suspension of blade installations and power production.
BSEE’s suspension was triggered by an incident July 13, when one of the Vineyard Wind’s 350-foot blades began to collapse during testing, raining debris into the Atlantic Ocean.
GE Vernova, parent company of blade manufacturer LM Wind Power, initially signaled that the issue was an isolated manufacturing defect. (See GE Vernova Finds Defect in Vineyard Wind Blade.) However, Vineyard Wind noted in its revised Construction and Operations Plan (COP) that a root cause analysis helped identify defects in other blades.
Vineyard Wind attributed the issue to “insufficient bonding at certain locations within the blade, which should have been detected at the manufacturing plant through inspection and quality control procedures.” BOEM has mandated the removal of all blades manufactured at a factory in Gaspé, Quebec.
Vineyard Wind said it plans to replace the blades installed at up to 22 locations. The company also may need to remove or repair additional blades, manufactured in France, at two other locations.
BOEM determined these two blades can remain in place if Vineyard Wind demonstrates that anomalies in the blades do not affect their structural integrity and that “the difficulty of the repair will likely cause more damage than the anomaly.”
BOEM also has required supervision of all new blades manufactured at the factory in France.
“Following months of extensive work and collaboration with the federal interagency, GE Vernova and Vineyard Wind developed a detailed and rigorous approach to safely resume the construction and operation of the project,” said Vineyard Wind spokesperson Craig Gilvarg in a statement. “Friday’s action cements this plan as a modification to the COP, which strengthens the project’s construction program, ensuring that this rigorous approach will guide all project activities in perpetuity.”
The approval allows Vineyard Wind to resume full construction on the project; BSEE had updated its suspension order in August to allow Vineyard Wind to resume installing towers and nacelles.
While the COP approval is a necessary step for Vineyard Wind, the need to replace more blades is a significant setback for the project, coming after a six-month delay to power production and blade installation. The project previously aimed to be fully operational by the end of 2024.
The costs of replacing the blades will be substantial — GE Vernova told investors in October that the blade failure and associated delays will cost the company about $700 million. (See GE Vernova Gives Update on Offshore Wind Woes.)
When fully operational, Vineyard Wind 1 will have an 800-MW nameplate capacity, and is a key component of Massachusetts’ decarbonization plans. It is under contract with Massachusetts’ electric utilities to provide power at an average annual cost of $89/MWh for 20 years (DPU 18-76, et al.).
The project’s potential benefits include increased winter grid reliability, reduced wholesale market costs, cheaper renewable energy certificates to meet state electricity standards and an estimated reduction in annual carbon dioxide emissions by 1.68 million metric tons.
The COP approval on Jan. 17 came just days before the inauguration of President Donald Trump, who has halted approvals, permits, loans and new leases for offshore wind projects.
