Tag Archives: Vineyard Wind blade failure

Turbine blade fails on Dogger Bank installation

Reports of the failure of a 107m long wind turbine blade during commissioning of the Dogger Bank wind farm – the world’s largest – have been confirmed by the operators. They remain tight- lipped, however, about any detail of the incident. The blade was built by GE Vernova, and is of the same design as the one that failed spectacularly in the Vineyard Wind development off the east coast of the USA in July, where thousands of sharp fragments of the blade washed up on nearby tourist beaches, leading to them being closed for several days during an emergency clean-up. Last week’s incident on the Dogger Bank was the third for this particular type of blade in three months. An earlier failure at the same site in May was, said GE Vernova at the time, ‘the result of an installation failure’. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:44

How a Newport advisory commission ended up a part of the anti-offshore wind controversy

One of the city’s volunteer advisory commissions was accused of censorship after denying an offer to put opponents of current offshore wind farm projects as experts on a series of educational panels on climate change and offshore wind. While offshore wind opponents, including Councilor David Carlin, argued that the educational panel’s lack of offshore wind opponents made the series unbalanced and unfair, Carlin’s resolution to sponsor a panel of anti-offshore wind speakers was shot down by the rest of City Council for being outside the council’s jurisdiction. In a statement regarding the response from the community and Carlin’s resolution, the commission said the events were designed to be “educational and informational” engagements with experts from their field, not a debate or public hearing. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:04

Biden-Subsidized Offshore Wind Developer Reports Massive Losses in Latest Blow to Industry

A Danish renewable energy group booked huge impairment losses Thursday after it pushed back the launch of one of its U.S. offshore wind projects, according to its first-half 2024 earnings report. Orsted estimated the value of its assets declined $472 million in the first half of 2024, largely due to delays at the onshore substation for its 704 megawatt (MW) “Revolution Wind” project off the coast of Rhode Island and Connecticut, the report showed. The company also reported a variety of other problems, including losses related to its cancellation of its Ocean Wind projects in New Jersey and its abandoned effort to produce eco-friendly methanol in Sweden. “Despite encouraging progress on our US offshore wind project Revolution Wind, the construction of the onshore substation for the project has been delayed,” Orsted’s CEO Mads Nipper said in reference to the delay. “This is, of course, unsatisfactory, and  we continue our dedicated efforts to de-risk our portfolio.” more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 17:03

Opinion: Rhode Island needs to call a hiatus on offshore wind projects amid blade failures

The recent spate of offshore wind turbine blade failures should be a wake-up call for both the industry and our policymakers. Recently, a Vineyard Wind turbine off Nantucket suffered a catastrophic failure of a 350-foot-long fiberglass turbine blade that dumped 110,000 pounds of fiberglass, epoxy and foam into the ocean. The Vineyard Wind project has been ordered by the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement to cease operation and halt further construction activities pending an investigation. Public support for these projects has collapsed. A flash poll conducted by a Providence television station showed 85% of respondents do not support building these turbines. more, >>CLICK TO READ<<, by Martin Kits van Heyningen 06:58