GE Renewable Energy to open offshore wind factory and development centre 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 Centre in the city of Guangzhou.

The new GE offshore wind factory in Jieyang will help to meet China’s 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 marshalling harbour and industry-related suppliers, to serve local and regional projects.

John Lavelle, CEO of Offshore Wind at GE Renewable Energy, commented: “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."

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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