| Work Detail |
GE Vernova has revealed that it would remove several blades from the Vineyard Wind project after completing quality checks of all blades.
The quality check was part of the Incident and Response and Action Plan announced in August following an incident in July in which a blade suffered damage and island beaches were strewn with fibreglass shards and green and white foam.
GE Vernova has removed the hanging portion of the damaged blade and cleared debris from the platform. It also started removing seabed debris earlier this month and is expected to finish this week. The final task, the removal of the blade’s root from the rotor hub, is expected to occur in the coming weeks.
Vineyard Wind, a joint venture between Iberdrola’s US arm Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, said that GE Vernova re-examined more than 8,300 ultrasound images per blade and physical blade inspections with crawler drones.
“Out of an abundance of caution, GE Vernova intends to remove some blades from the Vineyard Wind farm while strengthening other blades as needed to support the safety and operational readiness of this project,” the developer said.
The blade maker also revealed that it would be conducting a more comprehensive analysis, working together with federal, state, and local partners.
Since authorities allowed for the construction of the wind farm to continue, eight new towers and nacelles have been installed on the project. On Tuesday, the companies were approved to return to installing new blades on turbines at the project once safety and operational conditions were met.
“The safety of our team, of the surrounding communities, and the local environment has always been at the forefront of everything we do, and we are confident that the quality and safety assessments that have been undertaken over the last three months will make this a better, stronger, and safer project going forward,” said Vineyard Wind CEO Klaus Moeller.
Upon completion, Vineyard Wind is expected to generate electricity for roughly 400,000 homes, save customers approximately $1.4bn over the first 20 years of operation, and reduce carbon emissions by more than 1.6m tonnes per year. |
