The company that manufactured the blade that broke apart on a Vineyard Wind turbine south of the islands on July 13 plans to inspect every blade it has built to look for flaws.
In an earnings call with investors on July 24, GE Vernova CEO Scott Strazik said the trouble with the Vineyard Wind turbine has been traced to what he called a “manufacturing deviation” at a factory in Canada. He said the flaw should have been identified through the company’s inspection process, and there is no apparent link to a problem with another installation.
“We have not identified information indicating an engineering design flaw in the blade or information in connection with the blade event of we experienced at an offshore wind project in the UK which was caused by an installation error,” Strazik said.
Debris from the failed blade washed up on Nantucket’s south side beaches, forcing them to close to swimming for a day. Efforts continue to monitor beaches for additional debris and to retrieve parts of the blade from the ocean.
Read more about the failed Vineyard Wind blade and local impacts of debris
Strazik said GE Vernova will examine the 150 blades it has manufactured for offshore wind projects without dismantling turbines that are already built.
“This is work we know how to do. The industry uses non-destructive testing—think ultrasound, think a radiologist, but for a blade—to identify deviations. We are going to do this on every blade, a thorough, prudent process.”
As for how long the inspection process might take, Strazik offered no timeline.
“We’re working with urgency to scrutinize all of our operations across offshore wind. Haste matters here, but we are going to be thorough instead of rushed.”
GE Vernova is coordinating with the firm Resolve Marine to detach the remaining portion of the broken blade from the turbine. One large piece of the blade is on the ocean floor.
The company’s environmental review of the incident says the risk to humans is moderate and takes the form of physical contact with shoreline debris, such as shards of fiberglass.
The risk to aquatic animals was determined to be low.
The review says the blade materials are stable, non-soluble, and non-toxic. However, it notes that the blade has some pieces added on after manufacturing that contain small amounts of PFAS chemicals in the form of Teflon.
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Read more about wind turbine blade testing in a report by Jennette Barnes HERE .
