GE Renewable Energy to open new offshore wind factory and development center in China

GE Renewable Energy has announced that it will open a new offshore wind factory at Jieyang’s Offshore Wind cluster in the Chinese province of Guangdong and will establish a new Operation and Development Center in the city of Guangzhou.

The new GE offshore wind factory in Jieyang will help to meet Chinese growing demand for offshore wind energy and will serve domestic and regional projects. Site construction is expected to begin at the end of this year, completed in 2021 and will start assembly production in the second half of 2021. GE’s offshore wind factory will be part of a dedicated offshore wind industrial park in Jieyang, which aims to develop an offshore wind cluster with a marshaling harbor and industry-related suppliers, to serve local and regional projects.

GE’s new Operation and Development Center in Guangzhou will perform research and development activities focused on regional needs. The site will also support customers throughout optimizing project costs, training, data management and operation and maintenance services. This new Center will be the regional Sales and Project Management office for GE Renewable Energy’s Offshore Wind business.

John Lavelle, CEO of Offshore Wind at GE Renewable Energy, said “China is poised to become one of the largest offshore wind markets in the world, and according to Guangdong’s Offshore Development Master Plan, 66 GW will come from the Guangdong region alone towards 2030. The cutting-edge technology of our Haliade-X 12 MW, the world’s most powerful offshore wind turbine, will bring value to our customers in the region. Our new factory in Jieyang and the Operation & Development Center in Guangzhou will put us in a better position to meet our customer’s demands in this fast-growing industry, while contributing to meet China’s growing offshore wind ambitions.”

Rachel Duan, president & CEO, Global Growth Markets, said at this signing: “As one of China’s strategic offshore wind development centers and a key growth region for GE in China, Guangdong is an ideal place to develop our offshore wind business. The agreements we signed today represent not only GE’s continued investment in China but also a significant milestone as we accelerate GE’s growth strategies in the market through the three pillars of “localization, partnership and digital”. GE’s investments in Guangdong will bring together advanced manufacturing, operations and development, services and digital applications, together with relevant suppliers, to form an offshore wind business ecosystem that closely and effectively serves the needs of customers in China and the rest of Asia, while pushing forward China’s clean energy ambitions.”

GE’s new offshore wind factory in China will serve regional projects, while the Saint-Nazaire assembly site in France, currently manufacturing the Haliade-X 12 MW prototype, will continue to serve all other international projects. Together, they will help GE Renewable Energy meet the growing demand for global offshore wind energy, by supplying Haliade-X 12 MW. Nantes offices in France will continue to operate as GE’s global offshore wind headquarter.

The Haliade-X 12 MW is a multi-million-dollar investment that will contribute to reducing the cost of offshore wind energy by making it more competitive. One Haliade-X 12 MW turbine can generate up to 67 GWh* of gross annual energy production, providing enough clean energy to power 16,000* European households and save up to 42 million metric tons of CO2, which is the equivalent of the emissions generated by 9,000 vehicles** in one year.

* Based on wind conditions on a typical German North Sea site.

** According to EPA Greenhouse gas equivalencies calculator