After initially signaling plans for an “independent assessment,” federal regulators told the News Service on Thursday that they are conducting a “comprehensive and independent investigation” into an incident that sent part of a Vineyard Wind turbine blade tumbling into the Atlantic Ocean and scattered debris across area beaches.
A spokesperson for the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said Thursday that the agency’s work will take a close look at the root cause of the July 13 incident at a turbine that was undergoing testing off the coast of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard.
“BSEE is conducting its own comprehensive and independent investigation into the causes and factors contributing to the incident and will evaluate all information provided to us,” the spokesperson said in a statement to the News Service. “BSEE’s policy is to release its findings to the public once our investigation is complete. Currently, there is no specific timeframe for the completion of the investigation.”
After the incident, BSEE ordered Vineyard Wind to stop generating power and to halt installation of new turbines, and issued a “preservation order” that a spokesperson previously said would “safeguard any evidence that may be relevant to determining the cause of the incident.”
It’s unclear how long Vineyard Wind, the first offshore wind installation delivering clean power to Massachusetts and the regional grid, will remain offline and how much the upheaval will delay plans to deliver the substantial remainder of the project.
Vineyard Wind has 10 operational turbines that, before federal overseers ordered a halt, were delivering about 136 megawatts of power to the grid. Project leaders plan to scale up to 62 turbines providing 806 MW, and Massachusetts and other states are involved in a years-long long process to compel private companies to significantly expand the footprint of offshore wind energy in federally leased areas.
Massachusetts officials are also on the verge of selecting the next offshore wind installations to join the queue. By Aug. 7, the state needs to pick projects from a field of bidders to advance to contract negotiations.
GE Vernova, the company selected by Vineyard Wind to manufacture its project’s blades and turbines, said Wednesday morning that the company has “no indications of an engineering design flaw” that could have caused the blade failure, but instead thinks it was a result of an issue in the manufacturing process, specifically “insufficient bonding.”
Scott Strazik, the company’s CEO, said on an earnings call that crews would “re-inspect” about 150 blades made for offshore wind installations at the Canadian factory where the problematic Vineyard Wind blade was built.
BSEE is led by Director Kevin Sligh Sr., who was deputy incident commander for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill response effort in 2011. He is responsible for “promoting safety, protecting the environment, and conserving resources through the regulatory oversight and enforcement of energy operations on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf,” according to the bureau’s website.
Within the federal government, the enforcement bureau falls under the Department of the Interior, which also includes the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, an agency that describes itself as having a “very strong interest in offshore renewable energy projects on the Outer Continental Shelf” and is “working closely with several states regarding offshore energy development.”
After the initial damage to the blade on July 13, a massive piece of it that had been dangling for days detached from the turbine on July 18 and fell into the water.
The News Service one week ago asked Vineyard Wind if the project had video of the wind blade incident and if so, if it would share it. A project spokesman did not respond to the inquiry. The News Service renewed its request Wednesday, and still has received no response.
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