Vineyard Wind allowed to continue with towers and nacelle installation

Vineyard Wind, a joint venture between Iberdrola’s US arm Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, and GE Vernova has received approval from the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) to resume the installation of towers and nacelles at the offshore wind farm.

The approval is only for components not associated with the blade incident that occurred on July 13, 2024. No one was hurt by the incident, but the island beaches were strewn with fibreglass shards and green and white foam. The updated suspension order does not currently enable further blade installation or power production.

In advance of issuing the updated order, the BSEE examined relevant records and information, including an independent structural load analysis by DNV. Following examination of that analysis, BSEE concluded Vineyard Wind could safely proceed with tower and nacelle installation.

On Tuesday, the Foss Prevailing Wind barge departed the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal carrying turbine components including several tower sections and one nacelle for transportation to the Vineyard Wind offshore site.

“As we take these important steps to resume installation activities, starting with towers and nacelles during GE Vernova’s ongoing blade inspection process, the safety of personnel and the environment remains our highest priority,” said Vineyard Wind CEO Klaus S. Møller.

”Our primary focus continues to be removing the parts of the blade that pose any risk of contributing further debris into the ocean,” added GE Vernova chief sustainability officer Roger Martella.

The two companies also stated that controlled cutting activities on the damaged turbine are underway and trying to reduce the amount of the damaged blade that presents a risk for additional debris falling into the ocean.

During the operations, maritime crews on multiple vessels were mobilised to secure as much debris as possible for immediate containment and removal as well as land-based crews managing debris recovery.

Vineyard Wind and GE Vernova are assessing further steps to complete any additional cutting necessary at the earliest opportunity as well as secure and remove the debris on the turbine platform, remove the blade root, and address the debris on the seabed.

The developer remains under a federal preservation order to retain all debris The company will bag, track, and transport all debris to proper storage as soon as possible.

Following the Vineyard Wind incident, the environmentalist group Green Oceans called for a federal and state moratorium on all offshore wind development. The organisation, with a mission to “preserve Rhode Island’s bays, beaches, and ocean from environmental harm”, is also suing to block the Revolution Wind and South Fork Wind offshore projects in addition to its call for a complete moratorium on such projects.