GE has been barred from selling its Haliade-X offshore wind turbine in the US by a federal judge in Boston. In June 2022, a jury ruled that the Haliade-X wind turbine design infringed one of Siemens Gamesa’s offshore Direct Drive technology patents and this ruling follows the initial decision. GE has stated that it is considering an appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit as well as requesting a stay on the injunction following the ruling. GE is also exploring other design options to bring the Haliade-X to the US.
The judge has granted GE the rights to supply its Haliade-X turbines to the 806 MW Vineyard Wind 1 project and the 1.1 GW Ocean Winds 1 project under a specific ‘carve-out’ in the ruling. GE will have to pay a royalty of US$30,000 per megawatt of rated capacity for each of the turbines that it supplies to Vineyard Wind 1 and a royalty rate for Ocean Wind 1 will be determined at a further hearing. Haliade-X turbines were also selected for the 120 MW Skipjack 1 wind farm. However, a turbine supply exemption has not been granted for this project.
According to Westwood data, contract awards for a further 1,300 turbines off the US are expected in the next decade (excluding Vineyard 1 and Ocean Wind 1), with a total EPCI value of over $25.8 billion.
Peter Lloyd-Williams, Senior Commercial Analyst
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