GE Renewable Energy has announced plans to open a new offshore wind factory at Jieyang’s offshore wind cluster in the Chinese province of Guangdong. The company will also establish a new operation and development center in the city of Guangzhou.
The new GE offshore wind factory in Jieyang will help meet China’s growing demand for offshore wind and will serve domestic and regional projects. Site construction is expected to begin at the end of this year and be completed in 2021. GE expects to start assembly production in the second half of 2021.
GE’s 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 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. The new center will also be the regional sales and project management office for GE Renewable Energy’s offshore wind business.
“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,” comments John Lavelle, CEO of offshore wind at GE Renewable Energy. “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 and 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.”
GE’s new 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.
