Blade damage reported at Desert Wind turbine in Pasquotank County

What happened

On 23 November 2025, a turbine at the Amazon Wind Farm US East, also known as the Desert Wind facility, in Pasquotank County, North Carolina, was photographed with only two blades remaining. Avangrid said technicians responded to an isolated event in which a single turbine blade was damaged. No personnel were in the immediate area, no injuries were reported, and the company said no further damage was found. Avangrid said it had taken steps to secure the turbine and any debris.

The site has 104 Gamesa G114 turbines and a capacity of 208 MW. At the time of the report it was not clear whether any missing blade had been found, or what caused the damage. The area around the turbine includes commercial land, farmland and homes.

Contributing factors

The operator had not stated a cause. The report notes that blade failures can be linked to manufacturing defects, lightning, extreme wind shear or internal stress fractures, but none of these was confirmed for this event.

Lessons learned

1. After a blade is reported missing or damaged, secure the turbine and search for debris before treating the site as clear.
2. Tell local authorities promptly while the cause and the location of any debris are still unknown.
3. Keep blade inspection records so a later investigation can test likely failure modes.

Source

albemarleobserver.news