New Record For US-Manufactured Onshore Wind Turbines
The onshore wind business of GE Vernova, a subsidiary of General Electric focused on the energy transition, announced that it has completed the first onshore wind turbine produced on its new wind manufacturing assembly line in Schenectady, New York. Schenectady is home to GE Vernova’s Gas Power, Onshore Wind, and Global Research businesses. GE has had a presence in the city for more than 130 years. The facility manufactures and assembles GE Vernova’s 6.1-158 onshore wind turbine. With tip heights reaching almost 656 ft. (200 m), the unit is the largest onshore turbine ever to be manufactured in the United States.
GE Vernova said that the expansion of the GE facility, which was first announced in May 2023, was enabled by the increase in market demand for renewable energy created by the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The IRA also provides tax credits for manufacturers who produce nacelle components in the United States and to projects that meet domestic content requirements, provisions that will support the US$50 million investment GE made in the new facility. New York State has also agreed to provide up to US$2.5 million though Empire State Development’s Excelsior Jobs Program.
As the facility completes its ramp up, 200 skilled employees will manufacture and assemble components for more than 100 units of GE Vernova’s workhorse 6-MW onshore turbine next year alone. The new manufacturing assembly line is in the same building where GE Vernova continues to manufacture steam turbines and generators for its gas business, leveraging skillsets and learnings across businesses. The company assembles wind turbine components for its other workhorse onshore wind turbine, the 3-MW platform, at a facility in Pensacola, Florida.
GE Vernova has received nearly 10 GW of orders and amassed more than 4 million operating hours globally for this turbine platform. The 6.1-MW turbine has more than 1200 units in operation, making it the most-deployed 5-MW+ onshore wind turbine across all original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) with > 5-MW nameplates. The Onshore Wind business has been the number one provider of onshore wind turbines in the United States for the last five years according to the American Clean Power Association, and currently has a fleet of more than 57,000 wind turbines installed around the world.
