GE Vernova has issued a statement clarifying that recent turbine blade failures at two offshore wind farms, one in the USA and one in the UK, are not connected.
The latest incident took place on August 22 at the Dogger Bank wind farm off the coast of Yorkshire in the North Sea. This follows a similar event at the Vineyard Wind project off the coast of Massachusetts, where a blade failure led to debris being scattered onto nearby beaches. Additionally, a blade at Dogger Bank was damaged during installation in May.
The damage at Vineyard Wind was attributed to a manufacturing defect, which raised concerns about a potential systemic issue. The recent failure at Dogger Bank occurred while the turbine rotor was stationary and the yaw system, which adjusts the rotor’s orientation to the wind, was disabled. This situation left the turbine exposed during a major storm while it was being commissioned. GE Vernova stated that it is implementing corrective measures to mitigate risks during such conditions.
