CEO of GE Vernova's troubled blade unit LM Wind to leave

Departure follows difficult year for blade unit, including closure of factories and scandal in Quebec

Hanif Mashal is leaving his role at the end of the month.
Hanif Mashal is leaving his role at the end of the month.Photo: LM Wind

The CEO of LM Wind, the troubled blade manufacturer owned by US turbine giant GE Vernova, is leaving his position.

GE Vernova confirmed in a statement to Recharge that Hanif Mashal will leave his post at the end of September.

Nikolaj Toft, currently executive leader of Engineering and Technology, will step into the role of interim managing director, said the spokesperson.

They declined to answer any other questions, including the reason for the departure and if Mashal resigned or was forced out.

Mashal has been at LM Wind for over seven years, taking up the CEO role in February 2024 after time as chief technology officer and vice president of engineering and technology.

Previously, he worked as chief engineer of offshore wind turbines at German-owned rival Siemens Gamesa. He has a Master of Science in electrical engineering from Aalborg University in Denmark.

The news comes after a difficult year for LM Wind. The GE Vernova unit confirmed it is ending production at a Brazil factory earlier this year, placing 1,000 jobs at risk, due to declining demand.
Vestas, a Danish rival of GE Vernova, has this month officially taken over a Polish onshore blade factory owned by LM Wind, after agreeing a deal in May.
Last year, staff were fired or suspended at LM Wind’s factory in Quebec, Canada, amid reports that evidence had been discovered of falsified data.
Those reports emerged after a blade from the factory broke and fell into the sea at the Vineyard Wind project in the US. The project was later ordered to remove all blades produced at the Canada factory from turbines that had been installed.

That incident has been seized on by members of the Trump Administration to attack the offshore wind industry, which the US President is set on destroying in the country.

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Published 11 September 2025, 14:46Updated 11 September 2025, 15:52
GE VernovaLM Wind PowerUSNorth America