Second blade failure of 2024 at Dogger Bank A offshore wind farm
Aug 2024Published 1 May 2026Responsible editor: Chief Editor
- Where
- Dogger Bank A offshore wind farm, North Sea, United Kingdom
- Manufacturer
- GE Vernova
- What
- Blade failure on turbine during commissioning
- Injuries
- None reported
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Companies named in the reporting of this entry (being named is not a finding of fault): Dogger Bank Wind Farm consortium, GE Vernova
What happened
On the morning of 22 August 2024 a blade failure occurred on a large multi-megawatt turbine at Dogger Bank A, an offshore wind farm under construction in the North Sea, United Kingdom. It was the second blade failure at the same project in 2024, following an earlier event in May of that year. The Dogger Bank Wind Farm consortium disclosed the incident publicly the same evening, stating that no one was injured or in the vicinity when the damage was sustained and that the surrounding marine area had been restricted in line with safety procedures.
The failure occurred during the commissioning process being carried out by GE Vernova, the turbine manufacturer. Construction operations across the wind farm continued. The cluster of blade events on the same turbine design during 2024, including a further event at a separate offshore project outside the UK, attracted wide industry attention and raised questions about blade design reliability and manufacturing and installation quality controls. No fatalities or injuries were reported in connection with any of the 2024 events on that design.
Contributing factors
Reported from a preliminary investigation by GE Vernova, the turbine manufacturer, disclosed publicly around eleven days after the event. The turbine had been left in a fixed and static position during commissioning, with the rotor locked and the yaw system, which orients the rotor to the wind, disabled. It was then exposed to high winds during a subsequent storm. A statement issued by the Dogger Bank Wind Farm consortium reported GE Vernova's analysis as finding that the event was not caused by an installation or manufacturing issue but occurred during the commissioning process. GE Vernova described this event as distinct from the earlier 2024 event at Dogger Bank A, reported as attributed to installation, and from a 2024 event at a separate offshore project, reported as attributed to a manufacturing deviation. All three were characterised by the manufacturer as having separate root causes.
Lessons learned
- A blade on a turbine left with rotor locked and yaw disabled can fail in high winds, so operators should check weather exposure limits before locking during commissioning.
- Separate root causes for similar blade failures on one design require operators to review each incident on its own merits rather than assume a single fix.
More lessons on weather and external hazards, structural integrity and turbines, from every incident on the register.
Not yet known
- Turbine model and age
- Duration of downtime
- Cost of repairs
- Exact root cause details
This entry is updated when these are reported. Get an alert for the next one like it.
This site has 3 entries on the register: every incident at Dogger Bank.
Other entries that name Dogger
Published 2026-05-01. Written from public reporting. Descriptive, not investigative. See the data accuracy disclaimer.
