Governors' Wind Energy Coalition

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The first offshore wind farm in the United States, installed in the waters off Block Island last fall, is now operating at full capacity after technicians repaired a turbine that was damaged during construction.

“Testing confirmed that the repair was successful, and the turbine is now running normally,” Jeffrey Grybowski, CEO of project developer Deepwater Wind, said in a statement. “The Block Island Wind Farm continues to perform well.”

The 30-megawatt wind farm about three miles southeast of Block Island went into commercial operation in December with only four of its five state-of-the-art turbines on line. Turbine 2 experienced problems during routine testing weeks earlier.

General Electric, the manufacturer of the turbines, subsequently discovered that a drill bit had accidentally been left between two moving sections inside its generator. The drill bit damaged a number of magnets that were essential to the turbine’s operation.

Replacement magnets were shipped from a General Electric factory in France. The repair operation started the week of Jan. 17 and wrapped up last week.

General Electric paid for the cost of the repairs, according to Deepwater.

akuffner@providencejournal.com / (401) 277-7457