The Vineyard Wind offshore wind farm, a joint project by Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, has resumed blade installation after a five-month suspension due to a blade fracture. The project, working with GE Vernova, received permission from federal regulators to proceed on a “case-by-case” basis after initial inspections and verification by an independent agent. The fracture occurred on July 13, causing parts of the broken blade to land on the tower and wash up on area beaches, leading to widespread concern. GE Vernova attributed the failure to a bonding problem in the manufacturing process, which was not detected by quality control. The project, initially the largest offshore wind farm in the US, was commissioned in early July, with 10 turbines already in operation and 136 MW of energy sent to the Massachusetts power grid. The project plans to install a total of 62 turbines, with 21 already in place or preparing for commissioning. The project will continue with blade installations on a case-by-case basis, with each blade completing a verification process before installation.
