Complete rejection of LM Wind Power’s giant blades

All 107-meter wind turbine blades produced by the LM Wind Power plant in Gaspé will have to be removed from the Vineyard Wind offshore wind farm, located off the coast of Cape Cod.

The United States Environmental Safety and Protection Bureau authorized the resumption of construction of the wind farm on January 17. Construction was stopped in July following the breakage and fall last July of a blade that had been built in Gaspé.

An internal investigation concluded in October that the fall of the blade was caused by a failure of the glue to hold the wind turbine part made of fiberglass and wood.

The federal office allows the construction of Vineyard Park to be completed on the condition that the blades produced in Gaspé are all replaced, but also that no other blades from Gaspé are installed there.

Other safety measures are imposed on Vineyard and GE-Vernova, owner of LM Wind Power plants around the world.

This is what American media, including the New Bedford Lite and the Inquirer and Mirror, report.

Following this investigation, GE-Vernova fired the director of the LM Wind Power plant in Gaspé, as well as managers and employees of the engineering and quality control departments.

Smaller blades

For the moment in Gaspé, operations are continuing despite the crisis shaking the factory. The manufacture of giant 107 meter blades has ceased.

The factory is now focusing on the production of smaller blades. No layoffs are planned in the near future, assures Jean-Éric Cloutier, president of the LM Wind Power employee union in Gaspé. We are not as fast and as productive as we already were, but this is to ensure better quality and get back on solid foundations.indicates Mr. Cloutier.

The spokesperson for the unionized workers is banking on recent announcements from Hydro-Québec, which wishes to turn to wind power and green energies, for the future of the plant. There, we are talking about 10,000 megawattsunderlines Mr. Cloutier. He recalls that the plant was built in 2006 during Hydro-Québec’s call for tenders for the construction of wind farms with a total capacity of 2000 MW.

LM Wind Power employs 500 people at its Gaspé plant.