A turbine at the 804MW Iberdrola-CIP joint venture Vineyard Wind was struck by lightning on 27 February.
Vineyard Wind said in a statement: “As part of a continuous effort to manage the damaged GE Vernova blade on turbine AW-38, a rigorous action plan has been put into place which includes debris recovery resources, recurrent flyovers to observe the turbine, and ultimately GE Vernova’s planned removal and replacement of the blade in May 2025.
“Based on a visual inspection of the damaged blade, preliminary evidence indicates that the blade may have been impacted by a lightning strike, though we continue to assess in coordination with GE Vernova.”
One of the blades broke off the AW-38 turbine in July.
The evidence of the lightning strike “was contained to the damaged blade, and based on current information there is no impact to the nacelle or turbine structure”, a Vineyard Wind spokesperson said.
“Vineyard Wind deployed both aerial and maritime resources and based on current observations, there is no indication of debris from this event.”
GE Vernova said in its own statement: “A single turbine at the Vineyard Wind offshore wind farm has experienced an isolated event.”
“No injuries occurred, and we are coordinating with our customer to investigate the event.”
The US Coast Guard said in a statement: “We remain in contact with Vineyard Wind, and as of Sunday afternoon (on 2 March), there are no reported navigational hazards of Coast Guard enforcement actions related to this incident.”
The Coast Guard also said it has no active involvement in the response efforts.
The Massachusetts town of Nantucket, which is the closest municipality to the project, said in a statement that it is closely monitoring the potential effects of the lightning strike.
Vineyard Wind is currently working to remove blades manufactured at GE’s LM Wind Power facility in Gaspe, Canada from the GE Vernova turbines.