Vestas CEO says He Dreiht blade debris contained as root cause probe continues

Vestas CEO Henrik Andersen told analysts on the company's Q2 2026 earnings call on 12 August that debris from a blade failure at EnBW's 960 MW He Dreiht offshore wind farm in the German North Sea has been contained, but that the root cause of the 22 July incident remains under investigation^[1].

What happened

A blade failed on one of the Vestas V236-15.0 MW turbines at He Dreiht on 22 July 2026, detaching and falling into the North Sea. On-site work vessels attempted to recover the fragment but were unsuccessful. Germany's Federal Police Inspectorate in Cuxhaven was notified on 24 July, and a patrol vessel was dispatched in coordination with the Waterways and Shipping Administration (WSV) to secure the debris and redirect vessel traffic.

The recovered blade section was approximately 20 metres long and 2 metres wide, floating just below the surface - making it invisible to standard ship radar and posing a significant navigation hazard. The crew attached a tow line, cut the fragment into sections, and unloaded them at Cuxhaven.

Vestas response

On the 12 August earnings call, Andersen described a two-track response^[1]:

• Vessels deployed to recover debris at sea
• Teams sent to nearby beaches to collect any material that had washed ashore
• German coast guard providing assistance throughout

"The first thing to observe is no one got hurt by it, which is positive," Andersen said. "Second is we have managed to keep and contain ... the debris that comes off."^[1] He added that the company has narrowed its focus to a specific area of the blade but that a final determination has not been reached.

EnBW separately disclosed that it had halted work on the affected turbine and on blades from the same production batch as a precautionary measure. EnBW's deputy CEO and CFO Thomas Kusterer characterised the incident as a one-off and "not a broader technical issue" with the other turbines.

Project status

Despite the incident, turbine installation at He Dreiht reached completion. Cadeler confirmed that all 64 Vestas V236-15.0 MW turbines have now been installed, with Wind Keeper completing the final units under its long-term contract with Vestas. Andersen confirmed on the earnings call that turbine number 64 was installed over the weekend before the call, and that the remaining portion of the damaged blade still needs to be removed before that unit can be finished.

He Dreiht, located approximately 85 kilometres northwest of Borkum, carries a €2.4 billion investment and is Germany's first offshore wind farm built entirely without government feed-in subsidies. EnBW expects full commissioning by late summer 2026. The project already holds power purchase agreements with Google, DHL, and SHS - Stahl-Holding-Saar.

What to watch

The Vestas root cause investigation is the critical open item. A finding that points to a manufacturing defect in a specific production batch would have implications beyond He Dreiht, given the V236-15.0 MW is Vestas' flagship offshore platform and is specified for multiple projects in the European pipeline. Germany's Waterways and Shipping Administration has also launched its own inquiry into the structural failure. Neither investigation has a disclosed timeline for conclusions.