The future of offshore wind in the U.S. has taken a blow with the failure of a GE Haliade turbine blade resulting in unprecedented pollution of the ocean and beaches
Remains of the shattered blade on the GE Vernova wind turbine: pollution of the ocean. Photo: Nantucket Current
The U.S. has been pushing for offshore wind power developments in the interest of transitioning from oil and gas but the recent failure of a massive, 13-megawatt GE Vernova Haliade wind turbine has equated the so-called “green” energy from wind turbines with an offshore oil spill.
There are many aspects to the failure of the turbine: the event itself, and also how the companies (Vineyard Wind and GE Vernova) handled the pollution incident.
There are many reports circulating now, including this examination by energy commentator Robert Bryce. He wrote a piece for his Substack account titled “Breaking Wind” and says this:
“…the development of offshore wind energy on the Eastern Seaboard has been promoted by some of America’s biggest climate NGOs, including the Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, National Wildlife Federation, and Conservation Law Foundation, as well as numerous Democratic politicians at state and federal levels. But the disaster at Vineyard Wind — and it is a monumental disaster for the offshore wind industry — is spotlighting the environmental risks posed by installing dozens or even hundreds of massive wind turbines and offshore platforms in our oceans. This disaster happened in calm weather. It doesn’t take much effort to imagine what will happen when a hurricane hits the East Coast.
“The NGOs have been shameless in their collusion with foreign corporations, including oil companies like Equinor and Total, that are eagerly queueing up to collect billions in federal tax credits. But the turbine blade failure at Vineyard Wind is only part of a broader crisis facing Big Wind, both onshore and offshore.”
The failure of this turbine will have an effect on the business of developing offshore wind power Bryce says.
“How bad is the problem? On June 28, Ohio-based American Electric Power sued GE Vernova in New York court, claiming widespread issues with the turbines it has deployed at three wind projects in Oklahoma. The complaint says:
Within only two to three years of commercial operation, the GE wind turbine generators have exhibited numerous material defects on major components and experienced several complete failures, at least one turbine blade liberation event, and other deficiencies…[a]significant portion of the wind turbine generators have completely failed or have otherwise been rendered inoperable, requiring immediate repair
“According to a July 2 article in Renews.Biz, AEP, a publicly traded utility with 5.6 million customers, says that it has already incurred:
“ ‘millions of dollars in costs and damages in the future’ because it will “inevitably need to repair and/or replace” additional wind turbine generators in order to meet the energy production requirements of its customers. It went on to allege that GE Vernova has refused to acknowledge responsibility to repair and/or replace all defective wind turbine generators.AEP said that in addition to its claim for cash damages, it is seeking a declaratory judgment that GE Vernova is liable for expected future failures of its wind turbine generators.
“Adding intrigue to the AEP lawsuit and the failure of the turbine blade at Vineyard Wind is that GE Vernova has not issued any press releases or filed any documents with the SEC to acknowledge its potential liabilities. … How much is at stake in the AEP vs. GE Vernova litigation? According to one report, the turbines in question have a capacity of 1.5 gigawatts and cost $6.4 billion. Thus, it’s easy to imagine that GE Vernova could be on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars in losses. Furthermore, those losses may be only part of the company’s long-term liabilities.”
Bryce wrote that two weeks ago. Since then, not much has changed except for more people looking at this for the disaster it is. Critical to the whole issue is the companies’ performance. The Town of Nantucket is so dismayed by the poor corporate communication and the sloppy pollution clean-up that the Town has said it will sue.
The Provincetown Independent has a local perspective on the tragedy, in this article published yesterday.
“A month has now passed since the event, and debris has continued to wash up on Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, with a few pieces floating as far as Falmouth and Chatham.
“While the physical cleanup of debris is underway, questions about the environmental effects on humans and wildlife have been hard to answer. It also remains unclear what caused the blade to break and how common such events may be.
“When foam began washing up on Nantucket on July 16, Vineyard Wind announced that it was sending two teams of four people to the island to remove debris.
“ ‘The debris consists of nontoxic fiberglass fragments ranging in size from small pieces to larger sections, typically green or white in color, ‘ the company said.
“The company said it had already recovered three large fragments offshore, and that ‘any potential debris washing ashore will be pieces 1 square foot or less.’ Vineyard Wind did not respond to multiple inquiries from the Independent regarding how much debris has been recovered since then or the volume of foam and fiberglass still unaccounted for.
“Nantucket Harbormaster Sheila Lucey closed several south-facing Nantucket beaches for the day on July 16. According to Nantucket Select Board chair Brooke Mohr, the closure was mostly aimed at preventing anyone from being hit by larger pieces of fiberglass in the surf, and Lucey reopened those beaches the following day.
“An advisory to wear shoes on the beach and keep pets off the sand was issued and then removed, according to the Nantucket harbormaster’s office…. The island was notified only ‘a few hours before fishermen were seeing stuff offshore,’ Mohr said. Earlier notification could have helped the town coordinate a response and prevented much of what did come ashore from reaching the island, she said.”
So what has the impact been? In truth, no one knows. Yet.
Also from the Independent:
“At the July 17 select board meeting, concerns about damage to Nantucket’s environment were front and center. Several people compared the breakage to the Exxon-Valdez oil spill, while some worried it would destroy the island’s fishing industry altogether.
“There is not much evidence yet of effects on that scale.
“A preliminary environmental analysis by Arcadis U.S., an environmental consulting company hired by GE Vernova, said that ‘the blade materials and debris in their final product state are considered inert, non-soluble, stable, and nontoxic, akin to materials that can be found in textiles, boat construction and the aviation industry.’
“A small amount of Teflon, which is a polyfluoroalkyl substance, or PFAS, is present in ‘aerodynamic add-ons’ at the base of the blade, the company wrote, but there ‘are no PFAS containing materials’ in the foam or fiberglass.
“That report has been criticized, however, by University of California Davis professor of engineering Valeria La Saponara, who told WCAI that Arcadis’s report was rushed and misleading and that it ignored carcinogens other than PFAS, including those in PVC and polyester compounds.”
What’s the relevance to Ontario?
First, the wind turbine blades are not inert structures—if they shatter, the debris can scatter a significant distance, and contaminate farm fields. This has already been seen onshore in the U.S., where shreds of fibreglass made it impossible to harvest crops on nearby land after a wind turbine failure.
Second, the relationship between the wind power developer and nearby municipalities is critical. We’ve already had an example in Ontario where a turbine near Kincardine caught fire but the operator did not inform the municipality immediately. Their interests are corporate, not humanitarian…or even environmental.
Last, the shattered blade and widespread pollution has resulted in fissures in the wind industry’s public face. Is it really about the environment and climate…or is it really just all about money?
WIND CONCERNS ONTARIO
contact@windconcernsontario.ca