OEMs may soon
begin outsourcing
offshore blade supply
KARL-ERIK STROMSTA
G
lobal turbine OEMs
that have outsourced a
growing portion of their
onshore blade production may
soon begin doing so for offshore
projects as well, TPI Composites
chief executive Steve Lockard tells
Recharge.
Historically the offshore
business has been dominated
by one or two players who built
most all of their blades in house,
so it wasnt as target-rich for us
[as onshore], Lockard said in an
interview on the sidelines of the
Global Wind Summit.
Were not building offshore
blades today, but the opportunity
is growing and its becoming more
and more interesting.
TPI, the worlds leading
independent blade maker, has
seen rapid growth in recent years
as turbine manufacturers have
outsourced more of their blade
production. TPI operates blade
plants in China, Mexico and
Turkey in addition to its home
market of the US, and a recent
deal with Germanys Enercon in
Turkey means it now counts the
worlds six largest non-Chinese
turbine OEMs as customers.
The percentage of outsourced
blades being used in the global
wind market has grown from 30%
a few years ago to more than 50%
today, Lockard said.
Thats happened even as GE
has moved much of its blade
production in-house through its
2017 acquisition LM Wind Power.
And that percentage will continue
to rise, Lockard predicted.
The same paradigm of
outsourced blade production that
allows turbine OEMs to enter
new onshore markets quickly
and without sinking capital
into local factories can also
apply to offshore, he said. With
international markets expanding,
the same model can work for
offshore.
Offshore wind will remain a
relatively small fraction of the
global wind market, with analyst
MAKE forecasting its share at
less than 20% in 2027. We dont
expect it to be a major percentage
of what we do, Lockard said.
But within TPIs current
prioritised pipeline of deals,
Lockard confirmed that a couple
in that pipeline would be offshore
related.
SGRE hiring for 12MW+ turbines
Photograph Getty
BERND RADOWITZ
Siemens Gamesa Renewable
Energy (SGRE) is hiring engineers
in Denmark and India for its
planned 12MW-plus offshore
wind turbine, the OEMs offshore
chief executive Andreas Nauen
told Recharge in an interview at
the Global Wind Summit.
He still couldnt tell when
exactly SGRE will launch its
super-sized offshore machine,
but Nauen said that it would be
within a year.
The usual cycle, once the
company starts hiring people,
lasts around half a year, he added,
which gives some indication that
the process will take a while.
Siemens first revealed plans for
a 10MW-plus machine in 2015,
before its merger with Gamesa,
but little has been said about it
since.
MHI Vestas announced
the first 10MW-plus turbine
on Tuesday, while rivals GE,
Senvion, Goldwind and others
are now working on double-digitmegawatt machines, which are
expected to cause another round
of steep price declines in offshore
wind.
Engie acquires 500MW
of French wind projects
Frances Engie has acquired French
developer Sameole and its 500MW
pipeline of onshore wind projects
in the country for an undisclosed
amount, building on its recent global
renewables acquisition spree.
The acquisition of Sameole and
its 20-member development team
strengthens Engies position in
its home market, where it already
operates 1.9GW of wind capacity.
Engie chief
executive Isabelle
Kocher
Eni to build first large
wind farm in Kazakhstan
The first utility-scale wind farm in
Kazakhstan, a 48MW project, is to be
built by Italian oil & has giant Eni, using
3.8MW turbines supplied by GE.
The Badashma wind farm will be
Enis first significant investment in
wind power, while the plant will also
be the first in the country to use GE
machines.
GWEC creates offshore
wind advisory taskforce
The Global Wind Energy Council
(GWEC) has set up an offshore wind
taskforce to advise non-European
governments on the benefits of the
technology, as well as best practices.
The taskforce will be chaired by the
UKs Alastair Dutton, with industry
pioneer Henrik Steisdal as its first
global offshore wind ambassador.
ABB to supply WindFloat
Atlantic transformers
ABB will supply custom-designed
transformers for the 8.4MW MHI
Vestas turbines to be deployed on
the WindFloat Atlantic floating wind
project off northern Portugal, being
developed by an EDP Renewablesled consortium. The compact 66kV
transformers are specifically designed
to withstand the additional vibration
and movement of a floating project.
rechargenews.com
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OEMs may soon begin outsourcing offshore blade supply KARL-ERIK STROMSTA G lobal turbine OEMs that have outsourced a growing portion of their onshore blade production may soon begin doing so for offshore projects as well, TPI Composites chief executive Steve Lockard tells Recharge. Historically th
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