GE Vernova has said that three recent turbine blade failures are unrelated.
“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,” a GE Vernova spokesperson said.
“Our current analyses indicate that the causes of the recent blade events are unrelated.”
According to a source familiar with the company, the 22 August blade failure at SSE Renewables, Equinor and Vargronn’s 1.2GW Dogger Bank project occurred in high wind conditions while the turbine rotor was locked in position and the yaw system was disabled due to work being performed during commissioning.
The company is putting in place corrective actions to eliminate risk to machines during such environmental events, the source said.
The 22 August blade failure was the second such incident at the Dogger Bank site after a 1 May blade failure, which GE Vernova said occurred because of an installation issue.
The third GE Vernova blade failure, at the 804MW Vineyard Wind project off the coast of Massachusetts in the US was the result of a manufacturing deviation, and the company has put in place measures to enhance quality assurance going forward.