GE Vernova Says Offshore Wind Turbine Blade Failures Are Unrelated
GE Vernova on Friday said recent turbine blade failures at two offshore wind farms in the United States and the United Kingdom are unrelated.
The statement comes as the company has been grappling with fallout from three separate blade accidents in four months.
The most recent occurred on Aug. 22 at the Dogger Bank wind farm off the coast of Yorkshire in the North Sea, a little over a month after a blade fell apart at the Vineyard Wind project off the coast of Massachusetts and sent debris onto nearby beaches.
"We continue to investigate the recent offshore wind events involving our blades and are taking every necessary step with customers and authorities to safely move forward with the installation of the Dogger Bank and Vineyard Wind farms," GE Vernova said in an emailed statement. "Our current analyses indicate that the causes of the recent blade events are unrelated."
The August incident occurred when the turbine blade was left in a fixed position during a storm with high winds, according to a statement on the Dogger Bank web site. The turbine was still in the process of being commissioned, or tested, by GE Vernova, the statement said.
Dogger Bank is a partnership between Britain's SSE Renewables and Norwegian companies Equinor and Vargronn.
Vineyard Wind is a joint venture between Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners.
(Reuters - Reporting by Nichola Groom; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)