Vestas plans New York blade factory as offshore wind giants target state

The proposed blade factory would be built in the capital region of New York state – near Albany – and could provide 600 direct jobs, plus almost 1,000 additional construction and development jobs if it comes to fruition, Vestas claimed.  

The Danish manufacturer also claimed that the proposed factory would generate $915 million for New York from construction and operations in its first year of operation alone. 

“This would bring a GDP impact of $1.4 billion to the state, further unlocking value for New York communities and supporting the state’s ambitious clean energy goals,” Vestas stated.

Vestas also plans to build a factory to make offshore wind nacelles in neighbouring New Jersey. 

The company has already been named as the preferred supplier for 3.5GW of offshore wind projects off the New York and New Jersey coasts according to Windpower Intelligence, the data and research division of Windpower Monthly.

Vestas is now competing with rival OEMs GE Renewables and Siemens Gamesa to secure turbine orders following New York’s ongoing offshore wind tender, through which the state aims to award power deals for up to 4.6GW of capacity.

GE Renewable Energy wants two manufacturing plants in New York to build its 12-14MW Haliade-X turbines – redesigned so as not to infringe patents previously filed by European manufacturing giant Siemens Gamesa. And Siemens Gamesa itself plans to build a nacelle factory at the Port of Coeymans facility in Albany, New York.

All the plans for manufacturing facilities are dependent on their respective turbine makers securing enough orders from New York’s latest offshore wind tender, which attracted bids from a range of large energy companies. 

Vestas and Siemens Gamesa are each included in just one of these developers’ bids, according to documents released by auction regulator Nyserda. Meanwhile, GE is named as a potential supplier by all six bidders.