More than six months after one of its blades fell into the waters south of the Island, Vineyard Wind is now generating power again.
One of the planned 62 turbines about 14 miles off the Vineyard coast is in operation for the first time since the 351-foot blade snapped in half in July, resulting in a total shutdown of the project.
The change comes as the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, the federal agency that oversees offshore wind energy projects, lifted a suspension order Friday that initially prevented construction and running of the more than 800-feet tall turbines.
BSEE is still investigating the blade failure, and in its lifting of the suspension order has said that Vineyard Wind cannot use any blades made at manufacturer’s GE Vernova’s facility Gaspe, Canada. All blades made at the facility must be removed.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the federal agency that deals with the initial project approvals for offshore wind farms, said Vineyard Wind and GE Vernova must demonstrate that any newly manufactured blades meet certain design criteria, show that the turbines are fit for service, and ensure blade monitoring system is functioning properly and will shut down if blade damage happens in the future.
A spokesperson for BSEE on Saturday also said that Vineyard Wind “must continue to take ongoing actions to complete the site-specific study that evaluates the environmental harm and other damage from the blade failure,” as ordered by agency director in September.
Vineyard Wind submitted a new operation and construction plan to BOEM in December, and it was approved by the agency on Friday, in the waning days of the pro-offshore wind energy Biden Administration.
In the plan, Vineyard Wind said it would remove blades from a maximum of 22 turbines, which were already installed before the blade broke in July.
In the aftermath of the break, GE Vernova said the cause of the break was a “manufacturing deviation” that should have been caught in the quality control process. Since then, practices at the factory in Canada have been questioned, and similar defects with other blades were found.
According to the new plan, Vineyard Wind had taken blades from two turbines after the initial break, and two other blades from a different manufacturing plant were also under review by BSEE and could also need to be removed.
A certification verification agent must witness the manufacturing of all of the new blades produced at GE Vernova’s plant in Cherbourg, France, including the application of adhesives that were cited as one of the issues with the broken blade, according to BOEM’s 123-page approval.
BOEM is also requiring an external inspection via drone or rope access within six months of the new blades being installed.
The removal of the blades will result in more boat traffic around the turbines, and there will likely be 22 round trips from the wind farm to Canada with the old blades, according to Vineyard Wind’s plan.
Craig Gilvarg, a spokesperson for Vineyard Wind, said the company remains committed to safety, and is grateful for the help from officials on the project.
“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,” he said in a statement Saturday. “Friday’s action cements this plan as a modification to the [construction and operations plan], which strengthens the project’s construction program, ensuring that this rigorous approach will guide all project activities in perpetuity.”
The federal government’s total shutdown of the project gradually loosened in the months after the blade scattered styrofoam and fiberglass into the water. By December, Vineyard Wind had gotten the go-ahead to start reinstalling turbine blades.
Offshore wind energy companies are bracing for a more hostile Trump administration.
— Ray Ewing
But the break rekindled animosity against offshore wind energy as Donald Trump, a vocal opponent of offshore wind, is set to take office on Monday.
President Trump made campaign promises to push back against offshore wind projects during the campaign, and U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew last week said he had been working closely with the president on drafting an executive order that would halt offshore wind turbine activities across the East Coast.
“These offshore wind projects should have never been approved in the first place,” Mr. Van Drew, a Republican from New Jersey, said in a statement. “The Biden administration rammed them through the approval process without proper oversight, transparent lease agreements, or a full understanding of their devastating consequences.”
The blade break was a significant setback for Vineyard Wind, which was the largest operating wind farm in the country before the failure. Originally estimated at $4 billion, the delays are expected to be costly, and GE Vernova said it was considering laying off hundreds of employees.
The project was the first commercial-sized offshore wind farm to be approved in the U.S., and its operation headquarters is on Beach Road in Vineyard Haven.
