Vineyard Wind 1 file photo.

VINEYARD WIND 1 construction was put on hold indefinitely while officials try to determine why a turbine blade broke on Saturday during the commissioning process.

Pictures circulating on social media showed most of the blade still hanging from the turbine. Vineyard Wind 1 officials said the damage was concentrated about 20 meters out from the root of the 107-meter blade.

Some larger pieces of the blade fell into the water and were retrieved. A lot of smaller pieces of foam and fiberglass were washing ashore on Nantucket on Tuesday. Vineyard Wind 1 officials publicly disclosed the problem with the blade on Monday.

It’s unclear whether the damage was caused by something hitting the blade or whether it just broke. The wind turbine was in its commissioning phase, meaning it was still being tested before being deployed for electricity production.

A spokesperson for the US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said operations at the wind farm are being shut down “until further notice” while the cause of the turbine damage is investigated.

The manufacturer of the 13-megawatt, Haliade-X turbines is GE Vernona. The enormous turbines are new to the market so any problems are scrutinized very closely. The same turbines are being installed at a wind farm off the coast of England, where one blade crumpled in May. GE Vernona said its investigation of that incident revealed it was an “isolated blade event” cause by an installation issue.

The Vineyard Wind 1 wind farm is a joint venture of Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners.

Bruce Mohl oversees the production of content and edits reports, along with carrying out his own reporting with a particular focus on transportation, energy, and climate issues. He previously worked...