GE Renewable Energy Ships First Offshore Wind Turbine

GE Renewable Energy – unit of General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) – recently announced the completion of the manufacture of its first commercial series of Haliade Offshore wind turbine nacelles. The 370-ton wind turbine nacelles will be shipped to the U.S. for installation in the Block Island Wind Farm.

Details on the Wind Farm

The Block Island Wind Farm, a project by Deepwater Wind, is located about 3.8 miles from Block Island, RI, and is the first offshore wind farm in the U.S. The 30 MW 5-turbine demonstration project is expected to generate over 125,000 MWh of electricity annually. The structures, designed by Alstom (PA:ALSO) Wind, will stand 600 ft (180 m) high and can withstand a Category 3 storm. The system will connect New Shoreham to the grid for the first time and allow it to stop the use of diesel generators.Notably, the Block Island Wind Farm will be connected to the grid by the end of 2016.

The Perks of the Project

Per GE Renewable Energy’s CEO Anders Soe-Jensen, this deal is likely to help the company meet the growing international demand in the energy sector.

Saint-Nazaire Plant

Inaugurated in Dec 2014, the Saint-Nazaire plant was designed to reach a production capacity of 100 Haliade 150 - 6MW offshore wind turbines per year. Alstom had specifically developed this new generation turbine for a sea-based environment.
This plant will be the assembly point for around 66 wind turbines of the Merkur wind farm in Germany, which will be followed by the 238 turbines scheduled to equip the three French wind farms in Saint-Nazaire.

GE Renewable Energy is a 9 billion dollar start-up within General Electric and combines one of the broadest and most extensive portfolios in the industry. The company is focused to make the world a better and cleaner place. It has the largest renewable energy installed base with 370 GW and is present across 40 countries, with an employee base of 13,000 employees. Supported by the world’s first digital industrial company, GE Renewable Energy is determined to change the future of energy.

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