SunZia Wind Project : GE Vernova, Pattern Energy forge largest onshore wind turbine deal

GE Vernova’s Onshore Wind business (NYSE: GE) announced a groundbreaking deal with Pattern Energy to supply 674 of the 3.6-1541 wind turbines for the SunZia Wind project in New Mexico, totaling over 2.4 gigawatts (GW) of power.

Key Points:

– The SunZia Wind project, poised to become the largest in the Western Hemisphere, will expand GE Vernova’s installed base with Pattern Energy in North America to approximately 4.3 GW.

– This order, received in Q4 2023, marks GE Vernova’s largest single onshore wind turbine order in terms of quantity and power generation capacity.

Scott Strazik, CEO of GE Vernova, highlighted the project’s role in accelerating the energy transition in the Western U.S. and commended the teams for their efforts in bringing this project to fruition. Vic Abate, Chief Technology Officer at GE and CEO of GE Vernova’s Wind business, emphasized the project’s demonstration of GE Vernova’s strategy to produce fewer variants in large quantities, ensuring quality and reliability.

The 3.6-154 turbine, a next-generation product, is designed for high efficiency and easy logistics in the U.S., building on the success of the 2.8-127 turbine. This product, resulting from three years of R&D, incorporates recent innovations in turbine and blade design, including a digital blade certificate and an AI-trained blade manufacturing process.

GE Vernova and Pattern Energy’s 18-month collaboration focused on optimizing site layouts and performance. The project will utilize GE Vernova’s nacelle facility in Pensacola, Florida, and tower manufacturing facilities in New Mexico, Colorado, and Texas, underlining the commitment to American manufacturing bolstered by the Inflation Reduction Act.

Hunter Armistead, CEO of Pattern Energy, expressed pride in the collaboration, emphasizing the project’s significance in creating thousands of new jobs and delivering clean energy to 3 million Americans.

In summary, the SunZia project, coupled with IRA incentives, is a significant stride in GE Vernova’s commitment to wind technology, domestic manufacturing, and supporting the U.S. in its efforts to decarbonize the electric grid.