Despite a broken turbine blade, offshore wind is still a cleaner option

A damaged 300-foot blade recently broke off a wind turbine being tested in the Vineyard Wind 1 offshore wind farm off the Massachusetts coast. Though no injuries have been reported, fiberglass and foam washed up on nearby beaches in Nantucket and led to temporary swimming restrictions. Vineyard Wind sent crews to collect debris and plans to monitor potential environmental impacts to the surrounding waters. Local residents are rightly expressing concerns about safety and the impact to communities, while also questioning the lack of past discussion of the risk of accidents like this.

The incident comes at a delicate time for America’s nascent offshore wind industry. Offshore wind represents a huge potential clean energy resource – especially off the East Coast – and one that the region is counting on to meet its clean energy and climate goals. But the offshore wind industry has suffered a series of recent setbacks, including issues with supply chains, inflation and high interest rates that have led to the cancellation of planned wind farms.

Vineyard Wind had been a bright spot, making history this year by becoming America’s largest offshore wind farm. But now, an order from the federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement has paused project operation until further notice. The investigation underway is attempting to identify any other affected turbines at Vineyard Wind, models manufactured by GE and ranked as some of the largest on the planet. 

This failure is a tragedy. It should not have happened and cannot happen again.

But, damaging as it was, it’s important to keep in mind that the world endures far worse damage from fossil fuel-related accidents on a regular basis. And that the benefits of offshore wind, including its potential to help us reduce the use of those same polluting fossil fuels, are potentially transformative. 

Fossil fuels’ legacy of damage

Compared with disasters associated with fossil fuel energy sources, the Vineyard Wind turbine failure – while unacceptable – barely registers as a big event. An initial environmental review of the turbine failure found that all blade materials are “inert, stable, non-toxic, and non-hazardous.” The review found low risk of contact with or uptake of turbine materials by aquatic life, with the chance of running into debris on beaches as the only moderate risk to humans. 

Every fossil fuel, meanwhile, has been plagued by a history of accidents that have fouled the environment and claimed lives.

Coal mines have a long history of deadly fires and explosions, with a 2010 blast in West Virginia taking nearly 30 lives. Oil and gas accidents are responsible for substantial damage to humans, marine life and the economy. The 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf of Mexico caused 11 deaths and is still damaging aquatic populations over a decade later. And thousands of oil spills – large and small – take place in U.S. waters each year, harming local environments.

Even in Massachusetts, a series of gas explosions in and around Lawrence in 2018 caused fires and blackouts across three towns, resulting in a death and multiple injuries. 

The damage caused by fossil fuel accidents is coupled with the lasting impacts of air pollution from fossil fuel combustion. Air pollution has been linked to millions of deaths each year, up to one in five worldwide. And, of course, fossil fuel combustion for energy is the leading source of the climate pollution that threatens the future of our communities and ecosystems – including our oceans.

Decarbonizing the grid

Renewable energy sources such as offshore wind, by contrast, are a much safer option. Not only do they create less risk of imminent danger, but they can also help us reduce our dependence on fossil fuels that exacerbate climate change and the damage it causes to humans.

Before the recent shutdown, Vineyard Wind 1 was capable of producing 136 megawatts (enough to power 64,000 homes) of electricity, even with just a sixth of its planned capacity on line. If completed in conjunction with the proposed Vineyard Wind 2 wind farm, the facility would produce enough electricity to power over a million homes in the Bay State.

At its full fleet of 62 turbines, Vineyard Wind 1 could eliminate 1.68 million metric tons or 325,000 cars’ worth of carbon emissions each year, which would make it a key player in the push towards Massachusetts’ goal of net zero emissions by 2050. Just over a quarter of the state’s utility-scale electricity is produced by renewable energy at the moment, with most of the rest of the state’s power coming from methane gas, but the state boasts the largest technical potential for offshore wind in the country.

A stable source of energy

Though far from being known as a sunny getaway, New England has widely adopted solar power, particularly on rooftops, successfully mitigating strain on the grid and enabling the region to retire some of its fossil fuel power generation capacity. But even as solar reduces summer peaks and lessens demand for the fossil fuels powering backup generators, output plummets during nights and winter months with extreme weather. That’s where offshore wind steps in.

Based on data from Block Island Wind, built off the Rhode Island coast in 2016, offshore wind farms can produce up to twice as much power in windier fall and winter months, even mitigating price spikes during cold snaps. Installing wind alongside solar can create a reliable, year-round supply of renewable energy even with New England’s highly variable weather patterns.

Unlocking the benefits of offshore wind can only occur if it is pursued in a way that minimizes environmental impacts and, ideally, involves and creates benefits for communities that may be affected. 

In the case of Vineyard Wind, the project’s developers have provided compensation for local fishermen whose catches may be impacted by the wind farm’s construction. In 2015, the project developers signed the nation’s first federally recognized offshore wind Community Benefit Agreement with the Vineyard Power Cooperative, which works to help Martha’s Vineyard achieve its goal of being powered by 100% renewable energy.

To protect the marine environment, Vineyard Wind reached a historic 2019 agreement with conservation-oriented NGOs to protect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales. Comprehensive monitoring and construction methods conscious of the presence of these whales, plus $3 million invested in further innovation and research, are intended to ensure that ecosystems in the offshore wind lease area receive minimal disruption.

It is unacceptable that shards from a broken wind turbine have washed up on beaches, especially at the peak of summer. Getting to the bottom of what happened – and ensuring that it doesn’t happen again – is essential, not just for protecting the environment but also for restoring trust in offshore wind as the industry prepares to grow.

But while it’s worth taking the time to get offshore wind right, one cracked turbine blade cannot bring offshore wind in New England to a grinding halt. The damage we endure daily to our health and environment from fossil fuels is too great, and the need to reduce climate pollution too urgent, to leave the massive clean energy potential available through offshore wind sitting on the table.