Siemens Gamesa has fix for onshore wind turbine problem - Yahoo Finance
Siemens Gamesa has fix for onshore wind turbine problem
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Siemens Energy has fixed quality issues at onshore wind turbines it is currently selling to customers, the CEO of the group's wind division Siemens Gamesa said on Friday, adding the group had made progress with its turnaround.
The comments by Jochen Eickholt come after Siemens Energy this week unveiled 2.2 billion euros ($2.4 billion) in charges related to its wind division, a major setback for the group that has drawn the ire of top shareholder Siemens AG.
Of those charges, 1.6 billion euros are earmarked for quality issues around rotor blades and gears for its latest onshore turbine models, the 4.X and 5.X, of which roughly 2,900 are in the field.
"Although I am very disappointed that we are experiencing these issues, it's worth mentioning that the variants of the 4.X and 5.X onshore wind turbines that we are currently selling to our customers have already been modified," Eickholt said in a LinkedIn Post.
"In other words, the identified problems have been addressed and it is now a matter of rectifying them in the respective wind turbines that are already in the field."
Eickholt pointed out that Siemens Gamesa had raised prices, reduced damage liabilities and become more selective over new projects to raise profitability.
While conceding the group's "current situation is self-inflicted", he said market conditions were unfavourable for wind turbine makers, many of which have been struggling with losses in the wake of rising inflation.
($1 = 0.9095 euros)
(Reporting by Christoph Steitz Editing by Friederike Heine and Mark Potter)
Related Knowledge Center: Offshore wind energy
Over the next decade, U.S. offshore wind power is expected to grow from a single 30-megawatt wind farm off Rhode Island to more than 2,000 MW of capacity along the Atlantic Seaboard. There are contracts for wind power off the coasts of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Virginia.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has estimated the United States has over 4,000 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind potential, enough to power the country four times over.
The growth in part being spurred by state solicitations, including in New York, where then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) set a commitment of 9,000 MW of offshore wind by 2035, and in Connecticut, where in June 2021, Gov. Ned Lamont (D) signed legislation authorizing the construction of 2,000 MW of offshore wind by 2030.
The offshore development is also being driven by an investment tax credit set to end in December 2019 and is equal to 12 percent of expenditures. U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Tom Carper (D-Del.) have introduced a bill to extend the tax credit for up to eight years.
The Interior Department has held eight competitive lease sales that resulted in 15 offshore wind leases over 1.7 million acres that has the potential for 21 GW of capacity. In February 2022, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management completed a bidding process that realized $4.37 billion for 488,000 acres across six lease areas in federal waters off New York and New Jersey.
Projects have also been proposed off the Southeast coast, off California and Hawaii, and for the Great Lakes.