GE Wants to Build Offshore Wind Blade, Nacelle Manufacturing Sites in New York

General Electric recently filed a plan to build two new offshore wind manufacturing facilities in New York if it wins enough orders from companies in the state’s ongoing solicitation for up to 4.6 GW of offshore wind.

GE proposed building the factories with Carver Companies at their Port of Coeymans site. 

The company said that, should it receive sufficient order volume, its LM Wind Power subsidiary would be ready to build a "state-of-the-art facility" for the construction of offshore wind turbine blades. 

GE said this would create approximately 650 direct jobs, with approximately 35% of those jobs coming from disadvantaged communities. Approximately 900 additional indirect jobs and over 500 construction jobs would be created, along with millions of dollars of related economic benefits, GE said.

Furthermore, GE Vernova, GE’s portfolio of energy businesses, proposed building a facility to produce nacelles, which house the generating components of a wind turbine. 

"This facility would create approximately 220 direct jobs, with approximately 35% of those jobs coming from disadvantaged communities. Additionally, almost 500 indirect jobs and approximately 500 construction jobs would be created along with millions of dollars of related economic benefit," GE said.

GE said its proposal includes specific commitments to hire and train new employees from economically disadvantaged communities.

The two facilities would produce components for the next generation of GE’s Haliade-X offshore wind turbine.  

An earlier version of the Haliade-X was the first 12+ Megawatt (MW) turbine in the industry and the only one to have full-type certification to operate at 14.7 MW, GE said.

That model of the Haliade-X has been operating for three years and has been selected by several customers, including for the 3.6 Gigawatt (GW) Dogger Bank Wind Farm, GE highlighted.

Once completed, the Dogger Bank offshore wind farm will be the largest offshore wind farm in the world.

"Others that have selected the earlier model include the 800 MW Vineyard Wind Project that will be the first large-scale offshore wind project in the United States, and the 1100 MW Ocean Wind 1 project. The next-generation model of the Haliade-X builds off the proven platform of its predecessor but contains some design changes and upgrades," GE said.

Over 100 Proposals Submitted

On January 26, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) received what it said was a robust response to New York’s third offshore wind solicitation.

According to NYSERDA, more than 100 total proposals for eight new projects from six offshore wind developers were submitted – representing a record-setting level of competition among East Coast states. NYSERDA expects to announce the awards in spring 2023.