Notes from an Environmentalist.
Vineyard Wind Accident
GE Wind Turbine Nacelle
The Broken Blade
August, 2024
The day after I stumbled across the Sea Installer, I e-mailed Joe St Pierre at the Salem Wind Terminal.
August 10
“Hi Joe,
I’m working on a piece about offshore wind energy. Would it be possible to have a site visit while she is in port?”
August 12
“Hi Bill,
Sorry I missed this while the Sea Installer was in. Perhaps, next time.
Thanks for reaching out.”
“Hi Joe,
“Thanks. Do you know where she is headed and if I could catch up with her at another port? “
“That, I do not know.”
So I opened the app, Vessel Tracker, and discovered the Sea Installer was just east of Cape Cod heading south.
Apparently her crane was too tall to fit under the Sagamore Bridge or Vineyard Wind didn’t want to draw any more attention to itself on such a busy holiday weekend.
But on August 13 I had my answer. Vessel Tracker had her back on station 14 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard.
I checked my news feeds. The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement had given Vineyard Wind permission to continue installing the turbines and their nacelles house sized buildings that sit behind the blades converting wind energy into electricity. The nacelles are so large technicians can walk around inside them.
It was good to see Vineyard Wind moving ahead. They still hoped to install all 62 turbines before the end of year despite the unfortunate July 13th mishap.