GE boosts offshore wind with acquisition

General Electric filled out its offshore wind turbine portfolio by buying ScanWind, which makes direct-drive turbine components.

GE on Monday said that it has completed the acquisition, which was valued at a about $18.5 million. ScanWind, which is headquartered in Trondheim, Norway and has a design center in Karlstad, Sweden, is now testing 11 turbines off the Norwegian coast.

(Credit: General Electric)

ScanWind makes a drive train that eliminates the need for a gear box in a wind turbine. Direct drive turbines typically add cost to turbines but they are gaining use in small turbines and other places where low maintenance is required.

GE invested in the technology specifically for use in offshore wind turbines. "(Reliability) is particularly important for the growth of the offshore wind industry, where project economics are strongly affected by turbine design and reliability," Vic Abate, vice president of renewable energy at GE Energy, said in a statement.

With many of the best locations for land wind farms spoken for, offshore wind farms offer some of the best wind power potential. There are a handful of offshore wind farm proposals in the U.S. including the Cape Wind project in Massachusetts and a project off the coast of Delaware.

Citing industry estimates, GE said that offshore wind is projected to balloon from an installed base of 1.5 gigawatts in 2008 to 30 gigawatts by 2020, driven by European renewable energy mandates and falling wind power prices. A typical nuclear or coal power plant has a generating capacity of about one gigawatt, or 1,000 megawatts.

[askgees]

WOW!!!! 18.5 MILLION 10 JOBS and 11 turbines. LOL Go green!!!! Pathetic.

[WinNoMo]

Maverick. Wink wink. Amen

[cptnjarhead]

SWEET.... i luv my tax dollars going to subsidize this crap....i cant wait for my mandatory Green bulbs... maid by?... you guessed it.... GE!... smart grid... BINGO!... GE...... "government electric"

[WinNoMo]

I wish we could each individually opt into or out of our tax dollars funding things. Those that do not wish to fund things would not be allowed to benefit from them. I know it's impossible, but it would sure be great. I would enjoy watching the selfish people suffer when they are only allowed to buy energy from non-green sources 30 years from now. So I could laugh in their face. And I would enjoy watching them suffer when they lose their job and have no more health insurance while the rest of us enjoy our "socialism" provided health care.

[DustyRomo]

OH wow, once again GE proves to be ahead of all the rest!

RT
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