Vineyard Wind began reinstalling turbine blades on its turbines over the weekend for the first time since one blade broke off into the ocean earlier this year. 

Vineyard Wind and its turbine manufacturer GE Vernova resumed the blade installation on Saturday, installing three blades, according to Vineyard Wind and government officials. The construction marks the first blade work in five months after one doubled over and scattered thousands of pieces of debris into the water in July. 

Nantucket town officials, who have been closely following the development of offshore wind to the island’s south, notified residents Friday that construction would be starting the following day. 

On Monday, Vineyard Wind acknowledged the construction, saying it comes after the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, the federal agency that is investigating the blade failure, approved blade work under certain safety precautions in October. 

“Following a rigorous process including both extensive inspection, and optimization of new monitoring technology, an initial set of blades has fulfilled the conditions for installation,” Vineyard Wind spokesperson Craig Gilvarg said in a statement.

Each turbine has three, football field-length blades attached to a nacelle. The nacelle sits atop a massive tower, bringing the turbine’s total height up to 837 feet tall.

The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement previously said that Vineyard Wind needed to develop a root cause analysis to determine the cause of the blade failure, as the agency conducts its own investigation.

GE Vernova has said the 107-meter blade had a manufacturing deviation that was not caught by its inspections. 

In a statement Monday, the bureau said it reviewed detailed data and engineering documents submitted by GE Vernova and Vineyard Wind, as well as an independent agent brought on to verify the details of installing three new blades.

“After careful evaluation, BSEE has agreed to allow the companies to proceed with installation of these blades as part of an incremental, case-by-case approach,” the agency said. 

The bureau had previously only allowed work in other capacities, such as cable-laying and erecting towers.

The planned 62-turbine wind farm situated about 14 miles south of the Vineyard has struggled to get back on its feet, having to send back more blades believed to have similar defects as the one that broke in July. 

When it was operating earlier this year, Vineyard Wind was the largest offshore wind farm in the country, sending 136 megawatts of power to the New England grid.

Editor's note: a previous version of this article incorrectly stated the number of megawatts that Vineyard Wind was sending to the grid. It was 136 megawatts.