The federal government has ordered an offshore wind developer off Nantucket Island, a popular summer tourist destination in Massachusetts, to suspend operations after parts of a damaged turbine blade washed up on the beaches.
A spokesman for the federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said Wednesday that operations at Vineyard Wind have been suspended until it can be determined whether the “blade failure” impacts other turbine blades on the development. As a result, power production on the lease area has been suspended and installation of new wind turbine generator construction is also on hold.
Nantucket officials said all South Shore beaches have reopened on the island after the company said six truckloads of debris were collected. The company said that the debris consists of nontoxic fiberglass fragments and that any washing ashore will be pieces of one square foot or less.
“We’re making progress in the debris recovery efforts and mobilizing even more resources on the island to hasten the cleanup as quickly as possible,” Vineyard Wind CEO Klaus Moeller said in a statement, which asks people to report any debris sightings to the company or town officials and avoid handling themselves. “The public can have confidence that we will be here as long as it takes to get the job done and make sure the beaches are cleaned up.”
But late Wednesday, the company said it found more debris in the water and expressed concern the integrity of the damaged blade on the turbine, known as GE Vernova blade, could be compromised.
“While part of the blade remains attached to the turbine, we believe there is an increased possibility it could detach soon,” the company said in a statement.
Vineyard Wind said it is working with the U.S. Coast Guard to maintain a safety zone of 500 meters (1,640 feet) around the affected offshore turbine. It also alerted the the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management as well as state and local authorities about the latest development.
“Vineyard Wind will continue to coordinate closely with its state, federal, local, and tribal partners to respond to this evolving situation while continuing to prioritize the safety of its personnel, its contractors, and the environment,” the company said.
The region’s power grid operator, ISO New England, said it was aware of the incident but that it would have no impact.
“New England’s power system remains reliable,” ISO New England spokesperson Matthew Kakley said in a statement. “Our system operators plan for unanticipated issues on the system, such as resource outages.”
Vineyard Wind is a joint venture between Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and said no personnel or third parties were near the turbine when the damage occurred. It said in a statement that blade manufacturer and installation contractor GE “will now be conducting the analysis into the root cause of the incident.”
The development’s massive wind turbines began sending electricity to the grid this past winter. It said it will deploy trained individuals to collect the debris for the next several days.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.