{"id":287799,"date":"2023-11-13T13:29:48","date_gmt":"2023-11-13T12:29:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=287799"},"modified":"2023-11-13T13:29:50","modified_gmt":"2023-11-13T12:29:50","slug":"siemens-cancel-virginia-wind-blade-factory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=287799","title":{"rendered":"Siemens Cancel Virginia Wind Blade\u00a0Factory"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘Development milestones could not be met,’ company says.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Siemens-Gamesa-to-Double-Hull-Blade-Facility<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BY\u00a0KATE ANDREWS<\/a>\u00a0\/\u00a0ROBYN SIDERSKY<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amid failing turbine components and financial challenges, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy said Friday it has \u201cdiscontinued\u201d its plans to build\u00a0the nation\u2019s first offshore wind-turbine blade manufacturing facility<\/a>\u00a0at the Port of Virginia\u2019s Portsmouth Marine Terminal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSiemens Gamesa will continue to meet our obligations for the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project. Siemens Gamesa discontinued plans to build and operate an offshore blade facility in Virginia, as development milestones to establish the facility could not be met,\u201d a spokesperson for the Spanish-German wind turbine company said in a statement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The $200 million project, first announced in October 2021<\/a>, was expected to create 310 jobs in Portsmouth \u2014 and also was viewed as a major step toward creating a U.S. offshore wind manufacturing hub in Hampton Roads. The factory was set to support Dominion Energy\u2019s $9.8 billion Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach, and Siemens Gamesa had leased 80 acres at the port\u2019s Portsmouth terminal next to 72 acres leased by Dominion for staging and preassembly of the foundations and turbines for the wind farm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When completed, the 2.6-gigawatt, 176-turbine wind farm will power 660,000 homes, according to the Richmond-based Fortune 500 utility. Last week, Dominion passed critical hurdles<\/a> to start construction as planned in the second half of 2024, with a 2026 delivery date. The first foundation posts, or monopiles, for the wind turbines began arriving<\/a> at Portsmouth Marine Terminal in late October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Port of Virginia was notified several weeks ago that the Siemens Gamesa project was not going to proceed, and Siemens Gamesa honored the port\u2019s termination fee, according to Aubrey Layne, board chair for the Virginia Port Authority, which oversees the Port of Virginia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cObviously from the economic development perspective for the state, that\u2019s a disappointment,\u201d Layne said Friday. \u201cWhile we are disappointed, it doesn\u2019t impact our ability to move forward in terms of how we would use the facility. [We\u2019re] more saddened by the fact that it did not work out for offshore wind development with them, and we\u2019ll see if somebody else steps in their place.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis announcement has no impacts on our project,\u201d Dominion spokesperson Jeremy Slayton said Friday. \u201cDue to the timing of our project, the proposed facility was not scheduled to manufacture our blades.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Components for Dominion\u2019s project are being manufactured at another Siemens Gamesa facility in Europe, where the company is making the turbines, consisting of blades, nacelles and hubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have confidence in Siemens Gamesa, a turbine vendor with decades of experience as the global leader in wind turbine technology,\u201d Slayton said. Dominion locked in the costs and production contract early. Siemens Gamesa made the pieces for the two pilot turbines currently operating off the coast, which Slayton noted \u201care exceeding expectations\u201d since becoming operational in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked how the cancelled project will impact regional plans for Hampton Roads to become an East Coast manufacturing hub for offshore wind operations, Layne said the port will continue to work with state and local economic development officials to develop the property. \u201cWe\u2019ve got other uses for it, so we\u2019re gonna be a good partner,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hampton Roads Alliance also weighed in on the potential impact to Hampton Roads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs the offshore wind industry shifts its focus from Europe to the United States, changes in the scope of emerging projects bring with it changes in supplier demand,\u201d Doug Smith, president and CEO of the alliance, said in a statement. \u201cJust last week, however, Dominion was granted approval to build the largest offshore wind farm in America off the coast of Hampton Roads. In addition, the City of Norfolk was awarded a $39 million grant to work with the Miller Group to turn Fairwinds Landing into an offshore wind logistics facility. These announcements put Hampton Roads in a better position than ever to serve as America\u2019s East Coast offshore wind logistics and manufacturing hub and to create thousands of jobs over the next decade.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heavy headwinds <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Siemens Gamesa has had major economic difficulties in recent months stemming from malfunctioning turbine parts.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company scrapped its profit guidance in late June, citing a \u201csubstantial increase in failure rates of wind turbine components\u201d at its wind division, CNBC reported in July,<\/a> and in a single day in June, Siemens Energy\u2019s stock fell by 37%.  Specifically, the problems involve turbine platforms, rotor blades and main bearings, Reuters reported<\/a>. And two weeks ago, Siemens Energy<\/a> said it was in talks with the German government to secure financial assistance to finish future large projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other wind energy companies have also seen difficulties in recent months, indicating a wider problem in the industry. On Tuesday, a Philadelphia news channel reported that \u00d8rsted<\/a>, the Danish firm that built Dominion\u2019s first two offshore turbines in 2020, is trying to get out of a $300 million payment to New Jersey after canceling two offshore wind farm projects in southern New Jersey. In late October, \u00d8rsted said<\/a> it had booked an impairment charge of more than $4 billion against its U.S. offshore portfolio, while announcing its decision to scrap its two New Jersey projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Layne said he and port officials have been in regular contact with Siemens Gamesa about the reported turbine issues and concerns with the wind industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Slayton said Dominion still plans to help establish a domestic offshore wind supply chain in Hampton Roads, saying that the region is ideally situated to capitalize on the wind industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe offshore wind supply chain in the U.S. is in the development stages,\u201d he noted.\u00a0\u201cWe have that tangible evidence that offshore wind is happening in Virginia, and we are moving forward full steam ahead to start that offshore construction in May of next year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Originally pubished by the virginiaBusiness<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

‘Development milestones could not be met,’ company says. BY\u00a0KATE ANDREWS\u00a0\/\u00a0ROBYN SIDERSKY Amid failing turbine components and financial challenges, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy said Friday it has \u201cdiscontinued\u201d its plans to build\u00a0the nation\u2019s first offshore wind-turbine blade manufacturing facility\u00a0at the Port of Virginia\u2019s Portsmouth Marine Terminal. \u201cSiemens Gamesa will continue to meet our obligations for the Coastal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":287807,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"'Development milestones could not be met,' company says.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691824574,691824573,691824575,691820487,691824572],"class_list":{"0":"post-287799","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-200-million-project","9":"tag-blade-manufacturing-facility","10":"tag-port-of-virginia","11":"tag-siemens","12":"tag-siemens-gamesa-renewable-energy","14":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/OIG-2023-11-13T120832.243.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1cRV","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":338026,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=338026","url_meta":{"origin":287799,"position":0},"title":"Virginia\u2019s risk of offshore wind turbine blade failure is serious","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"30\/07\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"On July 26, CFACT\u2019s President Craig Rucker sent Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin a letter warning him about the serious risk of blade failure in the giant offshore wind facility being built off Virginia. The warning builds on the recent blade failure off of Nantucket, which has littered the beaches with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"blade failure\"","block_context":{"text":"blade failure","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=blade-failure"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/0Wind-turbine-blade.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/0Wind-turbine-blade.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/0Wind-turbine-blade.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/0Wind-turbine-blade.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/0Wind-turbine-blade.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":333274,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=333274","url_meta":{"origin":287799,"position":1},"title":"Siemens Sinks: Germany\u2019s Top Wind Turbine Maker Sacks 4,100 Workers\u00a0Overnight","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"19\/06\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Remember how the wind and solar industries would create hundreds of thousands of highly-paid groovy \u2018green\u2019 jobs? No? Well, as it turns out, the few (highly subsidised) jobs created are disappearing like the sun over the horizon. Although, for the axed workers, there will be no reappearance the following day.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Chief Executive Jochen Eickholt\"","block_context":{"text":"Chief Executive Jochen Eickholt","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=chief-executive-jochen-eickholt"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/image-389.png?fit=1200%2C599&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/image-389.png?fit=1200%2C599&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/image-389.png?fit=1200%2C599&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/image-389.png?fit=1200%2C599&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/image-389.png?fit=1200%2C599&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":202386,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=202386","url_meta":{"origin":287799,"position":2},"title":"Subsidy Cuts Mean Wind Turbine Makers Face Miserable & Uncertain Future","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"01\/06\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The wind industry was built on lies and runs on subsidies; cut the subsidies and the whole thing collapses in a heartbeat. Wind turbine makers like Germany\u2019s Siemens are having a rather miserable time of it, of late. Subsidies were already being wound back across Europe (and with it demand\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/0img_20210721_070833.jpg?fit=1024%2C682&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/0img_20210721_070833.jpg?fit=1024%2C682&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/0img_20210721_070833.jpg?fit=1024%2C682&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/0img_20210721_070833.jpg?fit=1024%2C682&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":272313,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=272313","url_meta":{"origin":287799,"position":3},"title":"How faulty wind turbines threaten to bring down a German industrial\u00a0powerhouse","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"09\/08\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Siemens warned on Monday that it was facing a \u20ac4.5bn (\u00a33.9bn) loss this year as a result of issues within its wind turbine division.","rel":"","context":"In \"Germany\"","block_context":{"text":"Germany","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=germany"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/0e8ce098bf480c0d0ca9ca9cbd4af017d.jpg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/0e8ce098bf480c0d0ca9ca9cbd4af017d.jpg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/0e8ce098bf480c0d0ca9ca9cbd4af017d.jpg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/0e8ce098bf480c0d0ca9ca9cbd4af017d.jpg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/0e8ce098bf480c0d0ca9ca9cbd4af017d.jpg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":206214,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=206214","url_meta":{"origin":287799,"position":4},"title":"Ecuador: The rainforest must not be plundered for wind energy","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"28\/06\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The inside of an 81 m long rotor blade will be lined with balsa in February 2022 at a Siemens Gamesa plant in Denmark ( \u00a9 Carsten Snejbjerg) By Save the Rainforest e.V. We must quickly switch our supply to renewable energies - and above all consume much less energy\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/0balsa-wood-tree-photo-by-alejandro-bayer-tamayo.webp?fit=1200%2C929&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/0balsa-wood-tree-photo-by-alejandro-bayer-tamayo.webp?fit=1200%2C929&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/0balsa-wood-tree-photo-by-alejandro-bayer-tamayo.webp?fit=1200%2C929&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/0balsa-wood-tree-photo-by-alejandro-bayer-tamayo.webp?fit=1200%2C929&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/0balsa-wood-tree-photo-by-alejandro-bayer-tamayo.webp?fit=1200%2C929&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":275641,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=275641","url_meta":{"origin":287799,"position":5},"title":"Siemens Energy\u2019s wind turbine problems could cost 4.5 bln\u00a0euros","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"26\/08\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"So much for \u201ccheap wind power\u201d!","rel":"","context":"In \"Siemens Energy\"","block_context":{"text":"Siemens Energy","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=siemens-energy"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/0Siemens-Gamesa-will-supply-36-units-of-its-SG-3.4-132-wind-turbine-for-the-Voltalia-wind-project-in-Brazil.jpg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/0Siemens-Gamesa-will-supply-36-units-of-its-SG-3.4-132-wind-turbine-for-the-Voltalia-wind-project-in-Brazil.jpg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/0Siemens-Gamesa-will-supply-36-units-of-its-SG-3.4-132-wind-turbine-for-the-Voltalia-wind-project-in-Brazil.jpg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/0Siemens-Gamesa-will-supply-36-units-of-its-SG-3.4-132-wind-turbine-for-the-Voltalia-wind-project-in-Brazil.jpg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/0Siemens-Gamesa-will-supply-36-units-of-its-SG-3.4-132-wind-turbine-for-the-Voltalia-wind-project-in-Brazil.jpg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=287799"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287799\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":287810,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287799\/revisions\/287810"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/287807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=287799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=287799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=287799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}