North American manufacturer US Forged Rings (USFR) has unveiled plans for a $700m investment to construct an offshore wind turbine tower factory and a steel forging plant on the east coast.
USFR will use these two facilities to service the growing domestic offshore wind market, filling a critical supply chain gap for offshore wind components and alleviating bottlenecks for a market with goals of deploying 30GW by 2030 and 110GW by 2050.
The company is in final stages of evaluating east coast locations and expects to announce a decision soon.
Once all permits and regulatory approvals are secured, construction of the facilities is expected to take 16-20 months, with first towers beginning production in Q1 2026.
The two facilities will create more than 500 full time employment positions.
The facilities will also limit carbon footprint by using 77% recycled content.
Slavko Zurovac, USFR’s Managing Director, said the potential locations are “strategically positioned with access to required waterways, rail, and utilities, providing significant logistical benefits and making it competitive to supply large components”.
Through its strategic supply chain partnerships with Nucor, a US steel producer and recycler, and Ellwood Quality Steels, a US ingot caster, USFR is committed to producing final products that are 100% made in the US.
Once operational, the tower factory will produce 100 fully coated towers annually, that include internally produced flanges, eliminating potential delays and logistics issues, lowering the overall cost.
The facility is designed from its inception to be expandable up to 200 towers annually, depending on demand. T
he new steel forging facility will produce large flanges up to 40 feet in diameter, making it the largest ring rolling facility in North America and Europe.
The facility will also produce forged components required in other heavy industries including nuclear energy, construction, shipping and mining.
Giacomo Sozzi, President of USFR, said: “These facilities will enable US developers and OEMs to have predictable costs and a reliable supply of vital components.
“Equally important, the investment will result in direct environmental benefits including the reduction of significant pollution emitted by otherwise shipping these huge components from overseas.”