Sept 19 (Reuters) -

Energy equipment maker GE Vernova ( GEV ) said on Thursday

it planned to slash the size of its struggling offshore wind

business, a move that could cut 900 jobs around the world.

The company blamed cost inflation and supply chain

challenges that have been a drag on the sector over the last

year.

"The proposal reflects industry wide challenges for wind and

aims to transform our Offshore Wind business into a smaller,

leaner and more profitable business within GE Vernova ( GEV )," a

company spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

But the company has also suffered delays to two major

projects it is supplying because of incidents involving its

turbine blades.

In July,

a manufacturing flaw

led to a turbine blade failure at the Vineyard Wind project

off the coast of Massachusetts, and that facility has not yet

returned to full construction.

The company also experienced two separate turbine blade

failures at

the Dogger Bank

project in the United Kingdom this year.

Last week, company CEO Scott Strazik said its wind

segment would lose $300 million this quarter as it seeks to

complete a $3 billion order backlog.

GE Vernova ( GEV ) said it would allocate resources to existing

projects, including quality control. It did not say where the

900 jobs would be cut.