GE Vernova blade fails at UK’s Dogger Bank wind farm

Incident follows another Haliade-X turbine blade failure at US project last month

Foundation installation at the neighbouring Dogger Bank B offshore wind farm.
Foundation installation at the neighbouring Dogger Bank B offshore wind farm.Photo: Seaway 7

US turbine maker GE Vernova has suffered its second blade failure in a month after an incident at the Dogger Bank A offshore wind farm in the UK.

Dogger Bank said it was “aware of a blade failure which occurred” on Thursday morning on an installed Haliade-X 13MW turbine at the under-construction North Sea wind farm.

“In line with safety procedures, the surrounding marine area has been restricted and relevant authorities notified,” it said, adding that no one was injured or in the vicinity when the damage was sustained.

In a statement issued to Recharge, a GE Vernova spokesperson said a turbine at the Dogger Bank wind farm "experienced an isolated blade event that occurred during commissioning" and that it has started an investigation into the incident.

Dogger Bank A is the first 1.2GW phase of the 3.6GW Dogger Bank project, the world's biggest wind farm under construction. Its developers SSE Renewables, Equinor and Vårgrønn expect Dogger Bank A to enter commercial operations next year.

The incident follows another in July when a blade failed on a Haliade-X 13MW turbine at Vineyard Wind in the US. Debris from the giant component washed up on beaches at nearby Nantucket, putting GE Vernova and the wider US wind industry under pressure.

That incident brought a halt to installation of the first commercial-scale US offshore wind farm. That 800MW array is being developed by Iberdrola’s US subsidiary Avengrid along with partner CIP.

GE Vernova later said it believed the cause of that break was related to a manufacturing issue, not design.

This is also not the first incident during installation at Dogger Bank A, which saw damage sustained to another Haliade-X blade in May. Dogger Bank said initial findings indicated that incident was isolated to the single blade affected.

Article updated with a statement from GE Vernova
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Published 23 August 2024, 08:57Updated 26 August 2024, 06:13
GE VernovaDogger BankEquinorSSEUK