A manufacturing defect at a plant in Canada led to the July 13 failure of a turbine blade on the Vineyard Wind offshore energy project, turbine supplier GE Vernova said in an earnings call Wednesday.
GE Vernova CEO Scott Strazik said the breakage on turbine AW38 in the Vineyard Wind array appears to stem from a fault in the 351’ blade, built at a plant in Gaspé, Quebec, along with 150 similar blades.
Preliminary analysis points to insufficient bonding led to the rotor blade breaking apart during July 13 testing by GE Vernova, in preparation to handing over the Haliade-X generator to Vineyard Wind.
Strazik said the company’s investigation into root causes for the fracture did not find “information indicating an engineering design flaw in the blade.”
Fracturing of the laminated blade spilled fiberglass and green plastic foam int the sea, washing up on Nantucket’s south shore beaches, where six truckloads were removed.
GE Vernova and Vineyard Wind partners Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners were on track to install 24 of a planned 62 turbines before the blade failure led the federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement to call a halt
In a filing with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission, GE Vernova gave notice there could be financial fallout from the shutdown.
"Under our contractual arrangement with the developer of Vineyard Wind, we may receive claims for damages, including liquidated damages for delayed completion, and other incremental or remedial costs. These amounts could be significant and adversely affect our cash collection timelines and contract profitability," according to the SEC notice.
