Updated, Nov. 13
A radio station in Quebec is reporting that top executives at a manufacturing plant in Canada — where turbine blades have been manufactured for Vineyard Wind — ordered workers to falsify data, which offers new insight into what may have gone wrong earlier this summer when a blade fractured off the Vineyard’s coast.
Radio Gaspesie, citing anonymous sources at the end of the October, reported that an investigation conducted by lawyers with GE Vernova — subcontractors building Vineyard Wind turbines — found that senior company executives at LM Wind Power in Gaspé were asking employees to “falsify quality control data.”
The unnamed sources said that the executives created a points system that “encouraged employees to skip verification steps,” which prioritized “production quantity over quality,” the Gaspesie report states.
The station, which covers the Gaspé Peninsula — an area along the south shore of the St. Lawrence River — also reports that the “falsification scheme” may have led to a wave of layoffs at the plant.
The Times could not independently verify the Radio Gaspesie report.
Another publication in the area, Gaspesie Nouvelles, confirmed that some 20 employees have been impacted by the layoffs, though a union representing some of the workers is contesting the decision.
A spokesperson with GE Vernova, in a statement to The Times, did not address the allegations made in the Gaspesie report, but did not dispute them either.
“Following the July blade event at Vineyard Wind, we commenced an extensive internal review of our blade manufacturing and quality assurance program across our offshore wind operations,” the statement reads. “Based on this review, we have taken corrective actions at our blade facility in Gaspé. We are confident in our ability to implement these corrective actions and move forward.”
The latest reporting follows the fracturing of a turbine blade at the Vineyard Wind site in July that was blamed on poor bonding at the Canadian plant. When the blade originally fractured, debris made up of foam and fiberglass eventually washed ashore on Nantucket beaches and, to a much lesser extent, on Vineyard beaches as well.
Vernova has said that since the blade fracture, it has undertaken “extensive quality checks — including the re-examination of more than 8,300 ultrasound images per blade, and physical blade inspections with ‘crawler drones.’”
At the end of October, Vineyard Wind and GE Vernova announced that cleanup was underway to remove debris that had sunk to the ocean floor. In the same announcement, the contractors also said that an unspecified number of turbine blades will be removed from its lease area, 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard. Reporting from the New Bedford Light indicates that at least 14 turbine blades that were built for Vineyard Wind have been instead shipped to France, likely due to manufacturing defects. GE Vernova operates a blade-manufacturing plant at the Port of Cherbourg. Fourteen is more than GE Vernova officials stated they believed would be headed to France during an earnings call in October. Officials said there were a “single-digit” number of blades that would be removed.
As for the layoffs at the Canadian plant, Gaspesie Nouvelle reports that top officials were impacted, including supervisors and managers. The outlet reports that 11 floor employees were targeted as well, which the local union is contesting.
With a broken blade reported at the Vineyard Wind site earlier this summer — due to what officials say was a manufacturing flaw at its Canadian facility — the offshore wind project is no longer delivering power to the grid, per an order from the federal government. Vernova also reported two fractures at a project it is developing in the U.K. called Dogger Bank.
The layoffs in October follow an announcement from Vernova CEO Scott Strazik during a call with investors in September. Facing losses of $300 million in the third quarter, with Vineyard Wind stalled due to the fractured blade and the project in the U.K. facing difficulties, the company planned to cut as many as 900 jobs globally.
Meanwhile, the wider offshore wind industry could be facing an uphill battle in the coming years, following last week’s presidential election. President-elect Donald Trump has been highly critical of one of President Joe Biden’s key legislative accomplishments, the Inflation Reduction Act, which put billions of dollars toward encouraging greener energy development. Trump has also made bold statements about the industry on the campaign trail, including that he would sign an executive order not allowing new projects to move forward.
Updated to specify that GE Vernova is building Vineyard Wind turbines.
Geez , falsifying data? Probably just an isolated incident, because VW1 has been so transparent,honest and forthcoming in a timely fashion with all information regarding the broken blade, Oh , and clean up!
Imagine what other information is being withheld or falsified.
Question all of it!!!
You just can’t trust the Canadians.
The steal our technology and sell us junk.
GE should not have gone with the lowest bidder.
They should gone with the best.
Chinese blades…
Jason, I’m looking forward to the day when you have solar panels on your roof and a tesla in garage—and you realize it only took you three years to pay for and now you have free electricity and transportation for the rest of your life. It’s marvelous!
Such a disastrous disgrace! What a scam! They look horrible in our waters. Lit up like a city and visible from the shore/beach. Just terrible that these winds farms are allowed. Extremely disturbing. And we will not even be provided much of the energy they are producing. Our environment has been exploited by a few people trying to make a buck. They are the opposite of “green”.
Makes us look the Gulf Coast.
It’s just terrible that these oil drilling and production platforms are allowed in their waters.
Extremely disturbing.
‘All’ energy goes into the grid (The Town of Gosnold is an exception, they use nasty diesel engines, Naushon gets more than half of it’s electricity from solar).
Where does the Island get it’s electricity now?
From where the Island can’t see it?
Our environment has been exploited by a lot people trying to make a buck. Oil companies are at the top of the list They are the opposite of “green”.
There is green energy, just greener.
J. Benefit, the younger generation will grow up seeing those beautiful lights and windmills. The lights and windmills will be the subject of island artwork for years to come. Like laundry gently blowing in the breeze is the subject of artwork. People love ❤️ that sort of thing.
Imagine that! Fraud and mismanagement at Vineyard Wind. My question: WHO is the ultimate overseer of this ‘multi-national’ project which will eventually cost Commonwealth taxpayers much more than they were ever made aware of?
Vineyard Wind was approved by the Trump Administration.
The ultimate overseer will again be Donald Trump.
How much have Commonwealth taxpayers paid?
how much are they on the hook for?
How much tax money has the Commonwealth given to Vineyard Wind?
Payees, dates and amounts please.
How much is the Commonwealth contracted to give Vineyard Wind/
The WHO is the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM)/
The Trump Administration approved Vineyard Wind.
Do you have a total for the tax money that has gone into vineyard Wind?
This is what happens when you buy junk from Canada.
GE should have spent a few dollars more a bought the good stuff from China.
They have unbeatable technology and quality control.
How often do high tech products fail, right out of the box, from China?
We need 200% tariffs on Canadian junk.
300% on that awful tar sands trash.
That’s not what the article says. The fraud wasn’t with Vineyard Wind but with their subcontractor. This is a good article that shows that Vineyard Wind is prioritizing quality over quantity.
Correct but the anti wind crowd don’t let facts get in the way of their agenda.
Imagine that! Fraud and mismanagement in yet another blue agenda program forced down our throat.
Mikey– your throat must be pretty sore with all those things
that are being forced down it. I feel bad for you–
You can only eat one hamburger a month, you have to drive
that electric car that you hate, you have to live in sweltering
heat because Brandon took away your a/c and your ceiling fans,
you have to cook on an electric stove that you can’t figure out
how to use,
you have to heat your house with dried cow dung.
Even more worser than all that,
Your kids might come home from school someday
and tell you they had gender confirming surgery rather than
going to history class, and they actually had to use a real toilet
because the teacher ran out of cat litter.
AND you have to wear rainbow themed
clothes wherever you go.
But don’t worry– Kim Jong Un is working closely
with the incoming trump regime, and they are designing
a nice uniform that we will all wear with pride–
no more rainbows, no more “provocative” clothing for women
no opposition T shirts– it will be even more greater than ever and ever.
And we don’t even have to vote any more.
Don, on a doll can you point to where the bad orange man hurt you?
The agenda was forced down our throat by Trump Administration
Where were you six years ago?
Mikey, when Trump deports millions of people (he promised us he would), what will happen to their belongings? Will the artwork off their walls be given to republican elites? Will their clothing be collected in big piles and sold on eBay? Will their mortgages go into default and sold off to NYC real estate moguls? Will their cars be given to republican party insiders?
How many blades will be ultimately be removed?
Should GE Vernova be trusted to replace the blades and satisfactorily complete this installation?
How long is the warranty on this project?
Which power provider will supply electricity to MV during the interim repair/replace time period or if GEV goes bankrupt or the contract is canceled?
Does anyone at MV Times or any residents know the above answers?
R. Sims– You ask a lot of good questions .
I can’t answer most of them– nobody can answer a few of
them. But according to some of the people here who are
opposed to this, one question– if you believe them— is easy to
answer. Since we are not getting any of the power from
this project ( according to them ) we will continue to get
our power from the same provider we currently get it
from.
One other thing– if GEV (U.S based) goes bankrupt then
Avangrid will simply find a different sub contractor to provide blades for the project.
There are a number of companies around the world that do that.
Think of it this way– If you hired a contractor to build a house for
you, and they weren’t getting any lumber from Cottles, or even if they
were, and Cottles
went bankrupt, would that stop your contractor from completing
your house ?
It will be ok–
I consider your example too simple. Building a house consists of fungible commodities that are easily obtained everywhere. Lumber, concrete, wiring, glass and everything used to build a house can be replace by another local or regional suppliers. Same for contractors, they are very common. Wind power is a complex procedure. A wind turbine consists of the foundation, the tower, the rotor and hub (including three blades), the nacelle, and the generator. Materials for turbines are costly with prices increasing due to demand, specialized equipment and technical labor and shipping long distances. Connecting turbines to the grid with underwater cables and installing a wind farm is a long time process. Fiberglass is major material that is non-biodegradable and made up of a composite of very fine strands of plastic and glass, which is extremely difficult to process at the point of recycling so it is landfill dump. Apparently maintenance is required every 6 months.
Biden and the world leaders of France, Germany, China, Russia, India and Indonesia are not visiting COP 29 going on this week. I believe this is a sign that these countries will not support wind and solar power in the future. What do you think?
R. Sims, for people who are worried about the stability of the electric grid, I invite you to install solar panels, inverters, and batteries on your property and disconnect from the grid. And for peace of mind, you can buy some phase change material and install throughout your house. And a windmill. You will likely never have an electric bill again for the rest of your life. If you’re young, this will save you a ton of money.
Do you trust GE when you fly?
They have 55% of jet turbine market.
They are a high technology company.
They don’t it right every time.
They have the depth to fix it.
“How long is the warranty on this project?”
The same as on an oil well.
The Island gets it’s power from the mainland, that will not change.
Artificial Intelligence had this to say… AI Overview
…
“According to recent scientific reports, within the next 10 years, climate change is likely to have a significant impact, potentially pushing the planet past a critical threshold with more extreme weather events like heatwaves, floods, droughts, and rising sea levels becoming more frequent and severe, particularly if substantial emission reductions aren’t implemented soon; this could result in major disruptions to ecosystems, agriculture, and human health, with the potential to displace populations in vulnerable regions. ”
The IPCC recently abandoned its goal of reducing CO2 by 20 percent by 2030 since it is not only increasing, but it is intensifying. Instead, a new goal was created is for no emissions by 2050. This, unfortunately, is an impossibility…
Offshore wind has tremendous potential but there is also a lead time of about 6 years before it becomes positive and even then our global GDP is increasing rapidly at about 3 percent per year in the U.S. adding to the pollution. And of course, our election of Trump will likely see his promises kept or attempts to remove offshore wind – if he follows through.
But what will happen to our island if Trump actually tries to remove offshore wind? !
Frank, it only takes a few months for windmills to pay for themselves.
What will happen to the islands? The big flood this year was a warning of what’s to come.
We do need a desalination plant, PRONTO!
Deepwater horizon blowout ;
“On the night of April 20 a surge of natural gas blasted through a concrete core recently installed by contractor Halliburton in order to seal the well for later use. It later emerged through documents released by Wikileaks that a similar incident had occurred on a BP-owned rig in the Caspian Sea in September 2008. Both cores were likely too weak to withstand the pressure because they were composed of a concrete mixture that used nitrogen gas to accelerate curing.”
So they had a “shortcut” that proved fatal for 11 workers and injured 17 others.
It killed millions of creatures that live in and on the sea, and disrupted commercial fishing
and tourism for years. Today, there are approximately 3,500 offshore oil rigs in
operation in the gulf of Mexico alone.
There is no plan to decommission any of these rigs or to bring up the 260,000
miles of pipelines containing about 32 Billion gallons of crude oil.
And no one seems to be complaining , as long as they can fill up
their gasoline and diesel cars and trucks— and boats. — no problem.
But– the gnashing of the teeth, the clutching of the pearls –( is that an
anti- semitic slur ?) over some fiberglass and styrofoam in the ocean.
Any questions about the definition of hypocrisy ?
Right. Dishonesty and greed are sadly universal human traits. No industry can be immune. You want environmentally risk-free energy ? Start pedaling.
M Kelfer, so much easier to buy a few solar panels and an electric car.
M Kelfer–I am 72—
I put about 1,000 miles on my bicycle a year.
Almost all of them are instead of using my vehicle.
I rarely just go for a ride.
Full disclosure, my bike has pedal assist .
It does not have a throttle and only moves if I am
pedaling. It has 4 levels of assist which I can
easily vary to adjust to how much of a
workout I want, terrain and distances, etc.
it has a range of about 40 miles.
The assist cuts out at 20 mph.
What I like is the idea that I can go from V.H
to Edgartown or W.T on it without really thinking about it.
That saves gas–
The battery is charged by a battery that is charged from
a small solar panel.
Blame it all on deval Patrick “our former governor” who in 2013 sold the Atlantic Ocean to foreign countries, just look it up, & you’ll see
Google, deval patrick cape cod time’s wind energy
Aaron– I googled that–
I got this , as well as thousands of other hits
https://www.capecodtimes.com/story/news/2011/01/05/patrick-wind-energy-part-agenda/51324330007/
Yup– he opened the door and showed true leadership.
By the way– here’s the Wikipedia take on it
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Wind
I’m sure you won’t read it , so here’s a little bit about it.
“Cape Wind’s developer, Energy Management Inc. (EMI), was a New England–based energy company with 35 years’ experience in energy conservation and development. ESS Group, Inc. of Waltham, Massachusetts, was the environmental science specialist for the project. Cape Wind was also being assisted by Woods Hole Group, K2 Management, SgurrEnergy, AWS Truepower, and PMSS. Barclays was Cape Wind’s Financial Advisor.”
Yup, of the companies listed, SqurrEnergy was the only foreign company
involved — It’s an Indian company that provides engineering designs and performance
optimization– I don’t really see the problem, or anything to back up your assertion
that Patrick “sold the Atlantic Ocean to foreign countries”
That statement is just pure paranoid xenophobic BS. intended to
distract from the realities of the project.
I signed the petition to save our sound, because of the fishing heritage of my family from long ago. 🎣
Fishermen own the water?
M Kelfer, so much easier to buy a few solar panels and an electric car.
Aaron, the windmills are creating
beautiful new fishing grounds.
Fish are thriving under the windmills.
They will save our sound.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/04/120410093318.htm#:~:text=%22Our%20study%20showed%20that%20the,Claus%20Stenberg%20from%20DTU%20Aqua.
Aaron– there is no evidence that off shore
wind farms are damaging any more of the
aquatic life in the ocean than a single dragger does over
a month or 2 of dragging a giant steel rake
across the ocean floor.
In fact, there is verifiable evidence that OSW farms actually
enhancing sea life around them.
See Mary’s post —
It is also quite apparent that they are not an obstacle
to fishing– they are a mile apart after all, and just last month
up to 40 fishing and recreational boats played
“ring around the rosie” while repeatedly circling a single
tower at the same time.— I couldn’t have asked for a better
demonstration to make the point they are not a hazard.
I’m glad he did it.
Vineyard Wind was approved by the Trump Adminstrtion.
Albert, more renewable opinions:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qJv1TCK8RQY
Amazing how changes to the status quo (e.g., total reliance on fossil fuels) are met with politicized backstabbing.
Yes, those responsible for faulty turbine blades should be held to account, but calls to abolish low-polluting alternate forms of energy production are ridiculous.
See Don Keller’s sane response.
Steve, thank you.
Please consider signing this petition by saveoursound.org (SOS) they are trying to stop offshore wind in our Beautiful ocean off Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, our beautiful ocean sanctuary, considered top 10 in the world.
Thanks for the petition.
Aaron, oil lobbyists spend more to lobby Congress than any other industry by a factor of 100. The oil industry is using its immense power to buy presidents (like Trump) around the world. The oil industry is creating lies for social media. The regular people in the world don’t have a coalition to provide a rebuttal to the lies of the oil industry.
Windmills are GOOD!
Mary did you know that the oil industry is financed by millions of shareholders. Ordinary people who depend on dividends and stock growth for their livelihood. 20 percent from private companies but 80 percent from individuals. What is an oil baron pray tell?
andy–
“Noun
oil baron (plural oil barons)
A magnate or powerful individual in the oil business”
Here are a few who pillage the world today
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Who-Are-The-Worlds-Richest-Oil-Barons.html
Any questions ?
Andrew,
Tim Dunn. Farris Wilks. Dan Wilks.
Harold Hamm. Vladimir Putin.
Mukesh Ambani. Kochs.
Maybe you?
Please consider signing this petition by saveourgulfcoasst.org (SOGC) they are trying to stop offshore oil in our Beautiful ocean off Louisiana and Texas coasts, our beautiful ocean sanctuary, considered top 3 in the world…..
Nimby pamby
Try guessing what they use to lubricate those turbines?…OIL!
Aaron– oil has many very good uses– it is insanity
to burn it.
The better lubricants are synthetic, not petroleum based.
How many gallons of lubricant are on a turbine?
How many gallons of petroleum go through a a production platform, every day? .0001% of what is on a turbine?
Do oil wells leak? Pipe lines? Oil tankers? Fishing boats?
done
Suzie, you have been lied to by the oil industry.
The fishing industry is benefiting from the windmills.
The main group of people trying to stop the windmills are the oil billionaires. The oil barons are losing about $10 billion per year in the US (out of about $2 trillion, $10 billion is a drop in the bucket) and the oil barons see the writing on the wall—as soon as enough regular people figure out how cheap renewable energy actually is, the gig is up for them. One of the ways to keep the oil scam going is by keeping enough people fighting against renewables. It also doesn’t hurt the oil industry to buy off politicians like they have done in Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana. And the oil barons aren’t stopping there, they will keep buying off more politicians with their trillions.
False prophet all profit.
America First
Alexander, you mean Trump?
This paper is so one sided. Done. Shame on comments and reporting.
Vineyard Gazette- NY Times
MV Times- NY Post
Donald Duck = donald trump
Mickey mouse = Jd Vance–
so there–
Mikey, your comments are being published. How is that unfair?
The NY Post, Trump mouth piece, with some cred.
The Gazette and MVT are an accurate reflection of the politics of the Island.
Yours do not.
What keeps you here?
Islanders?
Albert, how is this America First?
Tariffs that will cause price increases.
Tariffs that will cause retaliation tariffs and lost markets (last time Trump lost our soybean export markets and pecan export markets).
Deporting people who grow our food.
Deporting people who construct our houses.
Deporting people who contribute to our communities.
Tariffs and windmills aren’t about illegal immigrants, unless they do the loading and loading of the stuff you like, Mary. Well, maybe tariffs on those crummy blades would be on-topic.
Blocking,
Taunting,
Threatening,
Dening the civil rights of Jewish people trying to be safe on college campuses.
Just thought I’d add to your list of HOW is this even America, since you brought it up.
We need to have 200% tariffs on all that Canadian junk.
Starting with al that sand oil goo.
Illegals want to load and unload.
That kind of manual labor is beneath American citizens.
Are Palestine women and children safe?
How many died this month?
Who killed them?
Tariffs will give hard working Americans mind numbing jobs like assembling tv’s and computers…
Americans want to grow their own food and build their own houses…
Bombing,
starving
Threatening,
“Denying” the civil rights of Palestinian people trying to be safe anywhere in their
homeland.
Just thought I’d add to your list of HOW America supports these atrocities
since you brought it up.
Don, a few weeks ago, someone commented that there are fertile oil fields that Netanyahu wants to control in the ocean. Do you think it might be true?
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