Another turbine blade failure at an offshore wind farm, this time in the U.K.’s North Sea at the Dogger Bank project, raised questions about whether these problems could have been prevented had the structures’ manufacturers done things differently. This latest incident comes just over a month after a similar occurrence off the coast of Massachusetts, with both cases involving blades made by GE Vernova.
Edgar Gunter, a former NASA engineer, examined the Massachusetts incident closely. While GE has said the problem at Vineyard Wind was due to a “manufacturing deviation,” Gunter attributed the issue to the materials used to make the blade.
According to Gunter, the decision not to utilize carbon fiber, a material 15 times more expensive but also 15 times stronger than the fiberglass GE employed, may have compromised the blade’s structural integrity.
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GE maintained that the issues at Vineyard Wind are unrelated to an earlier incident in May at the same U.K. offshore wind farm, which has been billed as the largest in the world. That earlier problem, the company stated, was due to a unique installation error that bears no resemblance to the Massachusetts failure.
The recent U.K. incident, however, created speculation over the potential that broader systemic issues are in play for GE. This is particularly relevant given that the company has faced other turbine blade issues at its onshore wind farms in Germany, Lithuania and Sweden over the past two years.
ANOTHER ‘BLADE FAILURE’ AT A U-K WIND FARM – HAS EXPERTS ASKING IF A DESIGN FLAW IS TO BLAME FOR A STRING OF RECENT INCIDENTS INVOLVING TURBINES MANUFACTURED BY G-E VERNOVA.
THE ISSUE WAS REPORTED LAST WEEK AT AN OFFSHORE WIND FARM IN THE NORTH SEA.
AND COMES JUST WEEKS AFTER SOMETHING SIMILAR OCCURRED OFF THE COAST OF MASSACHUSETTS.
BOTH MALFUNCTIONING BLADES WERE OF THE SAME MODEL, MANUFACTURED BY GE VERONA.
THE COMPANY IS NOW LOOKING INTO THE CAUSE.
MEANWHILE SOME ARE ALREADY FORMING THEIR OWN CONCLUSIONS.
–FORMER NASA ENGINEER EDGAR GUNTER BELIEVES THE PROBLEM LIES IN THE FACT THAT COSTLY REINFORCED CARBON FIBER WAS *NOT USED ON THE VINEYARD WIND BLADE.
EXPERTS ARE NOW QUESTIONING WHETHER THERE MAY BE A FUNDAMENTAL FLAW IN THE COMPANY’S DESIGNS.
THIS IS ACTUALLY THE SECOND TIME A BLADE HAS FAILED AT THE
U.K-BASED OFFSHORE WIND FARM, BILLED AS THE LARGEST IN THE WORLD.
GE SAYS THE FIRST INCIDENT OCCURED DUE TO A UNIQUE INSTALLATION ERROR-
WHICH BORE NO SIMILARITY TO WHAT LATER HAPPENED ACROSS THE POND NEAR MASSACHUSETTS AT THE VINEYARD WIND PROJECT.
THE COMPANY ATRITUTED THAT FAILURE TO A MANUFACTURING DEVIATION-
WHERE NOT ENOUGH BONDING AGENT WAS APPLIED, A MISTAKE MISSED BY THEIR QUALITY CONTROL TEAM.
BUT AS GE NOW LOOKS INTO WHAT CAUSED THIS SECOND INCIDENT BACK IN THE U.K.-
FORMER NASA ENGINEER EDGAR GUNTER HAS PROPOSED A DIFFERENT EXPLANATION.
HE BELIEVES THE PROBLEM LIES IN THE FACT THAT COSTLY REINFORCING CARBON FIBER WAS NOT USED ON THE VINEYARD WIND BLADE.
WHILE THIS MATERIALS IS 15 TIMES MORE EXPENSIVE THAN THE FIBERGLASS GE DID UTILIZE, CARBON FIBERS ARE ALSO 15 TIMES STRONGER.
WHILE GE CONTINUES TO INVESTIGATE THE CAUSE OF ITS MOST RECENT FAILURE-
THE COMPANY HAS RECENTLY SEEN OTHER INCIDENTS AT ITS ONSHORE WIND TURBINES AS WELL.
WITH BREAKAGES AT THEIR WIND FARMS IN GERMANY, LITHUANIA AND SWEDEN OVER THE PAST TWO YEARS.
FOR MORE ABOUT THE CHALLENGES OFFSHORE WIND PROJECTS AROUND THE WORLD HAVE ENCOUNTERED- DOWNLOAD THE STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS APP AND SIGN UP FOR ALERTS FROM ME – JACK AYLMER.
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