Vineyard Wind Begins Retrieval Of Blade Debris From Sea Floor

Vineyard Wind and its turbine manufacturer GE Vernova have begun retrieving the debris that sank to the sea floor following the blade failure  at the wind farm southwest of Nantucket three months ago.

On Sunday, Nantucket Select Board chair Brooke Mohr was informed by GE Vernova that the recovery effort had begun that morning, with multiple vessels involved including one deployed to recover smaller fragments of debris that may break off during the retrieval process.

The work is being conducted by the salvage company Resolve Marine, which was founded by Nantucket summer resident Joe Farrell.

During a previous survey by a sonar vessel in late August, GE Vernova discovered debris in 15 different locations on the sea floor within 150 meters of the turbine, according to Roger Martella, GE Vernova's chief sustainability officer and head of government affairs. The water depth around the turbine is approximately 150 feet.

"The debris the sonar has detected is not in any marine sensitive areas," Martella told the Select Board in September. "The plan is in October to go back and get it with a vessel and remove it from the sea floor and address the debris longer term."

The plan got underway Sunday when the vessel HOS Mystique arrived at the damaged turbine, AW38, over the weekend and conducted dynamic positioning tests, full equipment checks, and testing. A medic will remain onboard for the duration of the recovery effort. 

GE Vernova informed the town on Tuesday that the first piece of debris had been successfully recovered on Sunday.

"Yesterday morning, the GE team received a full briefing from Resolve, confirming no issues with the first piece of debris," the town of Nantucket stated in an update on Tuesday. "The lift proceeded smoothly, and no 'break-off' debris was detected."

Operations were set to resume yesterday, weather permitting.

Meanwhile, the heavy lift vessel Rolldock Sun that left New Bedford last week carrying at least two Vineyard Wind blades will soon arrive in Cherbourg, France, where GE Vernova has one of its two plants that manufacture blades for the Haliade-X turbines.

Officials for both Vineyard Wind and GE Vernova have remained silent on the matter. Despite speculation that the shipment may indicate the discovery of additional defective blades, both companies have declined to comment.

The Vineyard Wind project remains under a suspension order by the federal government following the disastrous turbine blade failure on July 13 that left Nantucket's beaches littered with styrofoam and fiberglass debris. That order was modified in August to allow Vineyard Wind to continue installing turbine towers and nacelles, but it is forbidden from producing power or installing blades.

The turbine blade failure at Vineyard Wind was blamed on a “manufacturing deviation” - specifically insufficient bonding of the blade materials - that occurred at the LM Wind Power factory in Gaspé, Canada, the other location where the Haliade-X turbine blades are manufactured. LM Wind Power was acquired by GE Vernova for $1.65 billion in 2017.

Following the blade failure in July, GE Vernova and Vineyard Wind announced all of the 150 turbine blades manufactured for the project so far - including those already installed on the 24 turbines constructed to date - would be re-inspected by reviewing the radiography testing records. The companies stated that the plan would include reviewing 8,300 ultrasound images, visual inspection of the blades with remote-controlled wheeled drones known as "crawlers" equipped with video cameras that can be inserted into the blades, and a new algorithm using existing sensors within the blades to monitor their health and provide warnings if trouble is detected.

GE Vernova has previously stated that the "vast majority" of Vineyard Wind blades were sourced from the LM Wind Power plant in Canada. But an unknown number of blades were also manufactured at the plant in Cherbourg, France, where an “operational incident” in April 2024 reduced production capacity and resulted in damage to one of the moulds used to produce components for the Haliade-X turbines.