$450M manufacturing investment by GE powers offshore wind

The new gearless turbine technology that we’ve been writing about lately in our offshore wind stories is now on the fast track — with GE announcing March 25 that it’s investing $450 million to produce it on a large scale. The plans call for development or expansion of wind manufacturing, engineering and service facilities in the United Kingdom, Norway, Sweden and Germany — signaling GE’s commitment to the growing European offshore wind market. The European Wind Energy Association expects that Europe’s offshore wind sector will grow more than 70 percent in 2010, with continued growth forecast over the next several years.

Ready to make a splash: Offshore wind has a “bright future” in Europe, said Ferdinando (Nani) Beccalli-Falco, president and CEO of GE International. GE’s gearless technology is especially suited to the harsh environments offshore, where high maintenance costs can result when the only way to service turbines is by boat.

At the core of GE’s European expansion plans is the development of GE’s next generation wind turbine, a 4-megawatt machine designed specifically for offshore deployment. By comparison, GE’s most widely deployed turbine — with more than 13,000 in the field — is 1.5 megawatts. As the largest wind turbine in GE’s fleet, it will incorporate advanced drive train and control technologies gained through GE’s recent acquisition of ScanWind.

What’s under the hood? Click on the magazine pages to enlarge them. The two-page spread on GE’s next-generation offshore wind turbine is featured in the “How it Works” story in April’s issue of Popular Science. Photos courtesy of Popular Science

Offshore wind is expected to make a major contribution in helping the European Union reach its goal to have 20 percent of its energy produced from renewable resources by the year 2020. “These announcements lay the foundation for us to begin scaling our offshore business, technology and supply chain locally in Europe where we see the greatest growth opportunity,” said Victor Abate, vice president of GE Power & Water’s Renewable Energy business.

Fan club: This technology is already being demonstrated at a test site in Hundhammerfjellet, Norway where the first ScanWind direct drive unit has been operating for more than five years.

The expansion plans could equate to more than 2,200 jobs over the next decade. GE Energy plans to establish its offshore wind turbine manufacturing in the UK and will locate application and service engineering resources in the country. GE will also bring partners and suppliers of towers, blades, nacelles and other offshore wind components to the manufacturing facility.

In Norway, which is the planned site for the testing and demonstration of the first 4-megawatt wind turbines offshore, GE will add to its existing presence with development and service facilities and expanded research. In Sweden, GE will also expand its current offshore wind facilitates by developing a Conceptual and Systems Design Center in Karlstad, Sweden.

And in Germany, a new engineering center will feature product development, application engineering and advanced technology. GE also plans to expand its resources at its existing wind turbine manufacturing facility in Salzbergen, as well as the GE Global Research Center in Munich.

* Read today’s announcement

Learn more in these GE Reports stories and videos:
* “GE’s offshore technology expands with ScanWind buy”
* “Blade runners: How 134-foot wind blades are born”
* “Blade runners: GE’s wind blade breezes into town”
* “Took a whole lot of trying, just to get up that hill”
* “Renewables study: 274,000 jobs can be added”
* “Europe’s largest onshore wind farm expands with GE”
* “Builder of largest US wind farm inks $1.4B turbine deal”
* “GE’s giant wind turbines set to debut in Sweden”