German-Spanish wind turbine-maker Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) has firmed up an order to supply machines for the Sunrise wind project being developed in US federal waters off the coast of New York.
The deal encompasses delivery of 84 of SGRE’s 11MW SG11.0-200DD turbines for the 924MW project being developed by a joint venture (JV) of Denmark’s Orsted and local utility Eversource, replacing a conditional contract signed in 2019 for 115 of the OEM’s 8MW model.
The developer duo signed a 25-year deal for offshore renewable energy credits with the New York State Energy Research & Development Authority in October 2019 for 880MW of power from Sunrise, with the option to boost this to the current plant nameplate, while its recently submitted construction and operations permit revealed that it may
expand to 1.3GW through merchant power deals.
SGRE’s German parent, Siemens Energy, with Aker Solutions will
supply the project’s export and inter-array cables as well.
The Sunrise order is the latest in a series of contract wins for the German-Spanish OEM, which recently
prevailed in an IP infringement lawsuit against rival GE Renewable Energy that resulted in the banning of its flagship Haliade-X turbine from the US market.
Removal from competition of the Haliade-X, which was granted an exemption to supply the pioneering Vineyard Wind 1 and Ocean Wind 1 projects where it has pending orders, leaves the burgeoning US market wide open to the remaining Western contestants, including Siemens Gamesa and Danish OEM Vestas, and fast-rising Chinese turbine makers looking to expand into international markets.
US states have already procured more than 17GW of offshore wind power through contracted offtake, according to the Department of Energy (DOE) in its
2022 Offshore Wind Market Report, with an eye on meeting the Biden administration’s goal of having
30GW turning by 2030.
Renewable energy research consultancy IntelStor calculates Siemens Gamesa as having a US pipeline of 6.9GW and predicts this will grow as the market adjusts to the loss of GE’s Haliade-X, which had been in the frame for 11GW.
The Sunrise contract follows an agreement reached last year with the Orsted-led JV to
provide 65 units of the same model turbine to the 704MW Revolution Wind project, and another 12 to the 132MW South Fork project.
Siemens Gamesa has also booked an order to supply
176 of its groundbreaking 14MW turbines to the nation-leading, 2.6GW Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project under development by Virginia’s Dominion Energy.
For the Dominion project,
Siemens Gamesa agreed to invest in a $200m blade finishing plant at the Portsmouth Marine Terminal in Virginia, but it remains unclear what, if any, supply chain investments are attached to the Orsted-led projects.
Siemens Gamesa has also bid on manufacturing space at the massive
New Jersey Wind Port under development in Salem County, New Jersey, but it likewise remains unconfirmed whether this site will be used to supply Sunrise and other Orsted-led projects.
