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July 17, 2024

Wind turbine blade breaks at offshore wind farm being developed by Avangrid

Contributed | commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Haliade-X,_nacelle.jpg A prototype of the Haliade-X wind turbine.
By Andrew Larson

The federal government has temporarily shut down an offshore wind farm located 15 miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, that is being developed by Orange-based energy company Avangrid and a Danish investment firm, while it investigates the cause of a wind turbine incident Saturday night.

The project, called Vineyard Wind, is under construction and will be the second-largest offshore wind farm in the country when it is finished.

According to a statement from Vineyard Wind, part of a turbine blade broke off, causing fiberglass fragments to fall into the water. Vineyard Wind is using patrols to clean up the debris and the U.S. Coast Guard established a 500-meter safety zone around the impacted turbine.

No injuries were reported.

The first five turbines for the project were powered up in February. Avangrid and its investment partner, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, plan to install a total of 62 turbines by the end of the year.

Vineyard Wind is expected to produce 806 megawatts of electricity, enough to power more than 400,000 homes.

Vineyard Wind uses Haliade-X turbines manufactured by GE Offshore Wind, which feature blades that are about 351 feet long.

On Wednesday, Vineyard Wind said it had hired a local construction firm and an emergency response contractor to lead cleanup operations.

As of Tuesday afternoon, all Vineyard Wind operations had been shut down. The federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said it was on site investigating the cause of the incident and will determine the next steps.

Avangrid, which owns United Illuminating in Connecticut, is a subsidiary of Spanish energy giant Iberdrola.

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