GE Vernova, the company that manufactured the blade that [1]broke off a
  wind turbine off the coast of Nantucket and littered the shoreline with
  shards of potentially dangerous fragments is taking a financial hit
  over the incident.

  In its third quarter earnings call, [2]according to RTO Insider, the
  company stated its onshore wind business saw its best quarter since
  2021, but the problems with its offshore business had taken the wind
  out of the good news. The July 13 blade failure and subsequent delays
  will cost the company an estimated $700 million.

  GE Vernova CEO Scott Strazik said the company cut offshore jobs in the
  third quarter, and it wouldn’t be taking new orders until there’s a
  substantial change in the financials of the offshore wind industry. In
  the meantime, GE Vernova will focus on satisfying a $3 billion offshore
  wind backlog.

  The company said it’s removing “some blades” from Vineyard Wind
  following an analysis of 8,300 ultrasound images per blade, the
  [3]Nantucket Current reports, as well as physical inspections with
  “crawler” drones.

  The company didn’t provide any specific numbers on how many blades
  would be removed or what that analysis found, but if it’s removing more
  blades, it’s likely the company found more problems. GE Veranova will
  also be “strengthening” other blades, but no further details on the
  number of methods were provided.

  GE Vernova has long stated that the problem was the result of a
  “manufacturing deviation” at a Canadian facility. The number of blades
  found with the deviation, Strazik said, was in the “low single-digit
  proportion” of the total amount the company makes.

  "In those cases, we're taking action on those blades, and we're doing
  that right now, and really now getting to a point of shifting back to
  execution out at sea,” Strazik said.

  [4]In a statement, GE Vernova and Vineyard Wind said they’re taking
  steps to remove the seabed debris and the root of the blade that
  remained after the larger portion broke off. The seabed debris removal
  will be completed this week, but removal of the root will take weeks.

  While Strazik sounded optimistic the company was nearing moving
  forward, the statement claimed that they were granted approval Monday
  to resume installing new blades on turbines at the project “once
  stringent safety and operational conditions are met."

  In a [5]statement sent to the Current, the federal Bureau of Safety and
  Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), Vineyard Wind is still prohibited
  from producing power, installing blades or conducting any activity on
  the turbine where the incident occurred.

  On a case-by-case basis, the BSEE added, some specific activities will
  be allowed after “sufficient risk analysis has been performed and
  mitigation measures are adopted.”

  In the Wednesday earnings call, Strazik said that it had “finalized
  root cause analysis,” which confirmed the problem was caused by a
  manufacturing deviation at the Canadian factory. The BSEE said that the
  suspension order requires Vineyard Wind to conduct a root cause
  analysis and supply copies to the agency.

  Just the News reached out to GE Vernova to get clarification on if this
  analysis was complete and the agency had not received it. The company
  didn’t respond. Vineyard Wind reiterated language in the joint
  statement that the approval was contingent on stringent safety and
  operational conditions being met.

  While the companies have not been granted the approvals to proceed or
  given any assurances the conditions will be met, the companies’
  announcement had offshore wind opponents concerned that the project is
  moving forward.

  In a [6]letter to the editor of the Current, members of [7]ACK for
  Whales, said they’re “shocked and truly disturbed” that Vineyard Wind
  is claiming it will soon resume construction.

  “The permitting for this project has been recklessly approved from the
  very beginning, and the project has already exhibited an enormous
  failure that does not appear to have been thoroughly addressed. A blade
  explosion, from which we are still seeing the damage, was not even
  considered in Vineyard Wind’s Construction and Operations Plan,” the
  ACK for Whales members wrote.

  When and if the company does proceed with the project, it could be some
  time before it wins back the trust of the Nantucket community. A
  nonprofit organization had [8]co-signed an agreement binding the town
  and other signatories to commit their support to the Vineyard Wind
  project in exchange for $16 million to mitigate impacts of the
  turbines. The [9]nonprofit announced Wednesday it is pulling out of the
  agreement.

References

  1. https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/energy/testimony-offshore-wind-hearing-reveals-us-could-experience-48-blade
  2. https://www.rtoinsider.com/90250-ge-vernova-update-offshore-wind-woes/
  3. https://nantucketcurrent.com/news/vineyard-wind-taking-down-more-blades-after-inspections
  4. https://www.vineyardwind.com/press-releases/2024/10/23/ge-vernova-and-vineyard-wind-provide-update-on-incident-and-response-action-plan
  5. https://budsoffshoreenergy.com/2024/10/24/vineyard-wind-status-bsee-statement-vs-ge-vernovas-spin/
  6. https://nantucketcurrent.com/opinion/ack-for-whales-responds-to-vineyard-wind-taking-down-more-blades
  7. https://ack4whales.org/
  8. https://nantucket-ma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/37347/Good-Neighbor-Agreement-PDF
  9. https://nantucketcurrent.com/news/maria-mitchell-association-pulls-out-of-good-neighbor-agreement-with-vineyard-wind

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