Company says manufacturing problem caused wind turbine blade to break off Nantucket Island
NANTUCKET, Mass. — The maker of a massive wind turbine blade that broke off the coast of Nantucket and washed up on beaches says a manufacturing problem was to blame.
GE Vernova CEO Scott Strazik said on an earnings call Wednesday that a lack of bonding at one of its plants in Canada was responsible for the blade breakage and that there was no indication of a design flaw. As a result, the company will reinspect all 150 blades that were made at the plant.
“To identify the gaps, we’re going to do that on every blade. It’s a careful, thorough process,” he said on the conference call. “We’re not going to talk about the schedule today. We have work to do. But I’m confident we can get there.”
Pieces of the blade, which is more than 100 meters long, began falling into the ocean on July 13 at the Vineyard wind project site, and crews on boats and beaches have since recovered truckloads of debris. The company said the debris consisted of nontoxic fiberglass fragments, and that those washing ashore were pieces a square foot or less in size.
The federal Bureau of Environmental Safety and Enforcement said last week that Vineyard Wind operations have been suspended until it can determine whether the “blade failure” is impacting other wind turbine blades at the project.
“As GE Vernova continues to investigate the root cause of the blade damage, Vineyard Wind 1 remains focused on coordinating with the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, assisting with debris recovery and prioritizing the safety of personnel, local communities and the environment,” company spokesman Craig Gilvarg said in a statement.
Vineyard Wind, a joint venture between Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, said no personnel or third parties were near the turbine when the damage occurred. It said in a statement that blade maker and installer GE “will now conduct root cause analysis of the incident.”
Development massive wind turbines began sending electricity to the grid last winter. It said it would deploy trained personnel to pick up debris in the coming days
