On July 13, 2024, a blade on a Vineyard Wind turbine in Massachusetts snapped and fell into the Atlantic Ocean, damaging the turbine and scattering debris on Nantucket’s beaches. The blade was 107 meters long and was about 20 meters from the turbine when it broke. The blade didn’t fully break, and for several days it hung parallel to the tower. The blade broke into hundreds of pieces, some as large as a car, and other pieces that were small enough to fit in a hand. The debris included fiberglass and foam, and was sharp enough to injure people’s eyes. The turbine is one of a dozen installed so far in the ocean. Each blade weighs more than 70 tons and is longer than a football field.
A freak occurrence? … or something we should expect more of in the future?
Gordon Hughes is a senior fellow at the National Center for Energy Analytics and Professional Fellow of economics at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. He has studied wind power in several countries. As the turbines get larger, the time of first failure becomes shorter. This applies to both onshore and offshore turbines. Further with salt spray, offshore turbines do not last as long as onshore turbines. Yet, the political trend is building larger offshore turbines in deeper water, making repairs more difficult. Based on data from Denmark, which keeps good records, a graph compiled by Hughes shows that the first-time failure rate (half-life) of large offshore turbines is less than 4.2 years.
How are the people of Nantucket feeling about this?
While environmental groups have said they have not observed any harm on marine life, attendees told Nantucket’s Select Board they’re worried about lasting impacts from small plastic particles that might have fallen off the damaged blade.
Galen Gardner, a retired teacher, said Vineyard Wind and blade manufacturer GE “contributed gobbledegook science and corporate-speak to address the situation.”
“We are here tonight in a packed house to express our anger and dismay over the rape of our oceans, our peace, our prosperity, our beloved marine life,” Gardner said.
Hmmm!
8/27/24