The multi-day clean energy project failure off Massachusetts is worsening, with developers at Vineyard Wind reporting Thursday that a "significant part" of a huge, damaged and dangling wind blade has detached and dropped into the Atlantic Ocean.
"This morning, a significant part of the remaining GE Vernova blade detached from the turbine," Vineyard Wind said in a statement released at 11:20 a.m. "Maritime crews were onsite overnight preparing to respond to this development, though current weather conditions create a difficult working environment. Despite these challenging weather conditions, a fleet of vessels remains at sea managing the situation and working to remove bulk debris. We have deployed additional crews to Nantucket Island in anticipation that more debris could wash ashore tonight and tomorrow as we continue to monitor additional coastal communities."
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Project officials announced the potential for the blade to detach during a Nantucket Select Board meeting on Wednesday night where outraged islanders expressed alarm at the infrastructure waste that's washing ashore and concerns about the future of wind projects.
In its Thursday statement, Vineyard Wind said it was "staying apprised of GE Vernova’s efforts to manage the situation, including the removal and recovery of the remaining blade attached to the turbine. With public officials, we will continue to keep the islands informed of developments as we work closely with state, federal, local, and tribal partners to respond to this evolving situation, with the safety of our personnel, the public, and the environment as our highest priority."
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More on the Nantucket wind turbine situation
The company advised anyone who finds debris to contact its reporting hotline: 833-609-5768.
Vineyard Wind waited until Monday afternoon to publicly disclose that one of its 107-meter wind blades was damaged on Saturday night, an incident that led to extensive blade debris and subsequent cleanup efforts that are continuing.
The incident is under investigation but no preliminary conclusions have been released about its cause.
At the select board meeting Wednesday, Vineyard Wind CEO Klaus Moeller described an alarm that tripped Saturday night.
"One of the blades on one of the positions was broken and folded over, bended over, and was not pointing in [the] direction that it should," he said. "The way the system acts, it's an automatic system, so the system actually shuts it down. And that's what happened here."
