GE expanding factory in France to house Haliade-X nacelle assembly

GE Renewable Energy is expanding its wind turbine nacelle factory in Montoir-de-Bretagne in France to accommodate the assembly of nacelles for the Haliade-X offshore wind turbines.

The wind turbine supplier has awarded a consortium of VINCI Construction France’s subsidiaries with a contract for the design and construction of the extension. Botte Fondations, one of the companies within the consortium, began construction activities in December 2020.

In September 2020, GE rolled out the first offshore wind turbine nacelle for the 480 MW Saint-Nazaire offshore wind farm at the Montoir-de-Bretagne factory. The nacelle was produced for the first of the total 80 Haliade 150-6 MW wind turbines that the offshore wind farm will comprise.

The company unveiled its next generation wind turbine platform, Haliade-X, in March 2018. The wind turbine was presented with an output capacity of 12 MW. Since then, GE has also introduced a 13 MW and a 14 MW version of the Haliade-X offshore wind turbine.

The wind turbine supplier has been chosen to deliver its Haliade-X wind turbines for several projects over the past couple of years, including the world’s largest offshore wind farm: Dogger Bank Wind Farm. For the third phase of the project, Dogger Bank C, GE has been selected to supply its Haliade-X 14 MW wind turbines.