GE has submitted a plan to construct two new manufacturing facilities in New York if it wins a sufficient volume of orders from customers 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.
Should GE receive sufficient order volume, LM Wind Power, a GE subsidiary, is ready to build a facility to manufacture offshore wind turbine blades—creating approximately 650 direct jobs, with approximately 35 per cent of those jobs coming from disadvantaged communities, the company said. Approximately 900 additional indirect jobs and over 500 construction jobs would be created along with millions of dollars of related economic benefits.
GE Vernova, GE’s portfolio of energy businesses, proposed building a facility to build nacelles which would create approximately 220 direct jobs, with approximately 35 per cent 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.
”As a leading manufacturer and innovator in developing renewable energy technology, GE is ideally positioned to help New York secure its vision of becoming a leading manufacturing hub for offshore wind technology. Our proposal leverages GE’s unique and unparalleled expertise, resources, and track-record – including a 130-year legacy of manufacturing in New York – to make this vision a reality in a durable and sustainable way,” Scott Strazik , CEO of GE Vernova, GE’s portfolio of energy businesses, said.
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+ MW turbine in the industry and the only one to have full-type certification to operate at 14.7 MW.
That model of the Haliade-X has been operating for three years and has been selected by several customers, including for the 3.6 GW Dogger Bank Wind Farm. That project will be the largest in the world when completed.
Others that have selected the earlier model include the 800 MW Vineyard Wind Project which will be the first large-scale offshore wind project in the United States, and the 1,100 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.
GE’s proposal for the two plants includes specific commitments to hire and train new employees from economically disadvantaged communities. For example, the company will launch an outreach program called Pathways to Wind to provide historically under-served communities exposure, education, and training in the emerging offshore wind industry. In support of that program, GE has engaged 24 educational institutions, including Office of Workforce Development and Community Education at SUNY Schenectady County Community College and SEAT [Social Enterprise and Training] Center, and signed 15 Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with New York entities that will enable the company to enhance diversity and inclusion in its efforts to staff the facilities.