GE Vernova is to remove some more blades from the Vineyard Wind offshore wind farm and strengthen others, the turbine manufacturer has announced.
The move comes as GE Vernova and Vineyard Wind were granted approval to return to installing new blades on turbines at the project once stringent safety and operational conditions are met on 22 October 2024.
In July there was a blade failure at the array off the coast of Massachusetts.
Since this, GE Vernova said it has implementing extensive quality checks – including the re-examination of more than 8,300 ultrasound images per blade and physical blade inspections with “crawler” drones.
The subsequent decision to remove and strengthen the blades has been made “out of an abundance of caution”, it added.
Following authorisation in mid-August to resume certain activities, eight new towers and nacelles have been installed on the project.
Operations and power production will resume only after additional progress is made and all requisite approvals are granted.