GE Vernova has signed a 2400MW turbine order and services deal with Pattern Energy for the SunZia wind project in New Mexico.
The order consists of 674 3.6-1541 wind turbines.
SunZia Wind, which is expected to be the largest wind project in the Western Hemisphere at over 3.5GW total project size, will bring GE Vernova’s installed base with Pattern Energy in North America to approximately 4.3GW upon completion.
The order, which was received in the fourth quarter of 2023, is the largest single onshore wind turbine order ever received by GE Vernova, both in terms of quantity of turbines and gigawatts of power generation, upon completion.
Scott Strazik, CEO of GE Vernova, said: “We are pleased to support Pattern Energy on this monumental project that reinforces the key role wind power has in delivering renewable energy to meet the growing demand for power in the Western US and in accelerating the energy transition.
“The project is a great example of how the policy certainty created by the IRA is helping to drive significant investments in the US wind power market.
“I want to congratulate our teams across GE Vernova for all the work that has and will go into bringing a project of this scale and magnitude to life.”
Vic Abate, Chief Technology Officer, GE and CEO, GE Vernova’s Wind business, said, “This project demonstrates GE Vernova’s ability to deliver on our workhorse strategy in Onshore Wind – producing fewer variants in large quantities at scale to drive quality and reliability across the fleet for our customers.
“We are proud to partner with our customer, Pattern Energy, on this historic project that will deliver the critical renewable energy required to meet the growing demand for power in the Western US.”
Designed specifically for the US, the 3.6-154 delivers the highest efficiency in the market, with an optimised size for ease of logistics and installation.
The 3.6-154 is built on the back of the 2.8-127 turbine.
The result of three years of research and development, this product is expected to bring recent innovations in turbine and blade design, including the digital blade certificate, an AI-trained blade manufacturing process designed to produce “industry-leading” quality.
GE Vernova and Pattern Energy’s collaboration on SunZia spans the last 18 months and includes collaborative development and supply chain work to optimise site layouts and performance while minimising unnecessary variants.
Hunter Armistead, CEO of Pattern Energy, said: “From the beginning this was a truly collaborative approach with GE to design an optimal site that maximises turbine performance and optimises fleet consistency.
“Nacelles and towers for the GE turbine are being domestically produced right here in the United States, helping SunZia create thousands of new jobs in manufacturing and construction.”
The project will be supplied through GE Vernova’s nacelle facility in Pensacola, Florida, as well as tower manufacturing facilities in Belen, New Mexico, Pueblo, Colorado and Amarillo, Texas.
GE Vernova announced in May of 2023 that it plans to invest $50m and add 200 additional union jobs as part of creating a new manufacturing assembly line for its onshore wind business in Schenectady, New York.