Federal officials postpone Vineyard Wind webinar

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The Vineyard Wind turbine with the broken blade, shown here in August. —John Zarba

A torrent of questions pushed federal officials to postpone a webinar about Vineyard Wind that was scheduled for this month.

The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) and the Nantucket select board will now be hosting a Zoom webinar on Feb. 3 at 5 pm, regarding the Vineyard Wind turbine blade failure that occurred in July. 

“Due to the volume of questions received by BSEE, more time was needed to process and prepare responses adequately,” a post by the town of Nantucket reads.

The new date also means the Zoom link has been updated, and officials are asking those who’ve already registered to reregister for the webinar. Registrations can be done at bit.ly/4ah5oYh. Nantucket will also be livestreaming the webinar on its YouTube channel

GE Vernova, the contractor constructing the turbines, began installing blades again last month after a federally imposed hiatus, but questions remain regarding a blade that fractured over the summer, sending debris to Nantucket and other areas, including the Vineyard. GE Vernova indicated in October that the blade’s fracturing stemmed from a manufacturing deviation in a Canadian factory. At the same factory, Reuters quoted unnamed sources saying a number of workers were suspended for taking shortcuts on quality control measures, and a Canadian radio station reported a “falsification scheme,” prioritizing quantity over quality.