Lightning Strike Zaps Damaged Vineyard Wind 1 Turbine

March 4, 2025, by Adnan Memija

On 27 February, a turbine at the Vineyard Wind offshore wind project was struck by lightning. The GE Vernova Haliade-X 13 MW turbine had previously experienced a blade failure in July 2024.

In July 2024, a blade from one of the GE Vernova’s Haliade-X turbines detached, which resulted in debris washing up on beaches on Nantucket Island, Massachusetts.

The US Coast Guard reported that a strike took place on 27 February 2025 and is collaborating with Vineyard Wind to confirm that the area remains free of navigational hazards.

Vineyard Wind, a joint venture between Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) and Iberdrola’s Avangrid, said a preliminary investigation indicated that the blade may have been impacted by a lightning strike, and the developer is continuing to assess the damage at the AW-38 turbine.

“This was contained to the damaged blade, and based on current information there is no impact to the nacelle or turbine structure. Vineyard Wind deployed both aerial and maritime resources and based on current observations, there is no indication of debris from this event.”

The 800 MW Vineyard Wind 1 offshore wind farm features GE Vernova’s Haliade-X 13 MW wind turbines, each with a 220-metre rotor and 107-metre blades.

“A single turbine at the Vineyard Wind offshore wind farm has experienced an isolated event. No injuries occurred, and we are coordinating with our customer to investigate the event,” said a GE Vernova spokesperson to offshoreWIND.biz.

After last year’s blade incident, both Vineyard Wind and GE Vernova set out an action plan to remove the remainder of the damaged blade.

GE Vernova Removing More Vineyard Wind Blades While Strengthening Others Following Inspections

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The breakage of the blade was caused by a manufacturing deviation, the company’s CEO Scott Strazik revealed during an earnings call on 24 July.

The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) ordered Vineyard Wind to remove all blades manufactured at GE Vernova’s facility in Gaspé, Canada.

“As part of a continuous effort to manage the damaged GE Vernova blade on turbine AW-38, a rigorous action plan has been put into place which includes debris recovery resources, recurrent flyovers to observe the turbine, and ultimately GE Vernova’s planned removal and replacement of the blade in May 2025,” according to a Vineyard Wind statement.

In January 2025, the federal government lifted the suspension on the project’s installation of the remaining wind turbines.

Wind turbine installation at the wind farm site, located some 15 miles (approximately 24 kilometres) off the coast of Massachusetts, began in September 2023, and project began generating power in February.