GE 18 MW Turbine, Nordex Revives Iowa Facility

Nordex USA has reopened its wind turbine plant in Iowa, while
Alliant Energy plans to add up to one gigawatt of wind generation
in the state. GE Vernova's 18 megawatt turbine has been approved
for testing and the UK has greenlit the 1.5 gigawatt Mona Offshore
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show? Email us! Good news for Iowa's clean energy sector.
Nordex USA celebrated the reopening of its wind turbine plant in
West Branch, Iowa on Tuesday. The plant now employs more than one
hundred workers. They're producing the company's first U.S.-made
turbines. Manav Sharma is Nordex's North American C.E.O. He says
the company is committed to Iowa for the long term. The plant had
been closed since twenty thirteen. Nordex bought the facility in
twenty sixteen and spent months retrofitting it. The plant will
produce parts for five-megawatt turbines. Production capacity is
planned to exceed two point five gigawatts annually. The reopening
comes despite federal debates about renewable energy tax credits.
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds noted that sixty six percent of Iowa's
power comes from renewable energy. That's the highest percentage in
the US. Alliant Energy also has big plans for wind power in Iowa.
The company filed a plan with the Iowa Utilities Commission to add
up to one gigwatt of wind generation. Mayuri Farlinger is president
of Alliant's Iowa energy company. She says expanding wind energy
will help them deliver reliable and cost-effective power to
customers. Alliant plans to own and operate the new wind projects.
The company expects the projects to create construction jobs and
provide payments to landowners. They'll also generate new tax
revenue for counties where the turbines are built. The Iowa
Utilities Commission is expected to make a decision in the first
quarter of twenty twenty six. Norway is testing the one of world's
biggest wind turbine. Norwegian regulator N.V.E. approved GE
Vernova subsidiary Georgine Wind plans for an eighteen-megawatt
turbine in the municipality of Gulen. NVE says this is the largest
wind turbine ever approved in Norway. It's also the first to be
licensed inside an existing industrial area. The turbine will have
a rotor diameter of up to two hundred fifty meters. The maximum tip
height will be two hundred seventy five meters. The turbine will
undergo testing for five years before switching to standard
commercial operation for another twenty five years. The United
Kingdom has approved its largest Irish Sea wind farm. Energy
Secretary Ed Miliband granted planning consent for the Mona
offshore wind farm. The project is owned by B.P. and EnBW. It will
feature ninety six turbines off northwest England. The one point
five gigawatt project could power more than one million homes with
clean energy. It's expected to begin production between twenty
twenty eight and twenty twenty nine. Miliband says this shows the
government is backing builders, not blockers. B.P. and EnBW are
also waiting for approval of a neighboring wind farm called Morgan.
That decision is due by September tenth. The developers have been
paying option fees of one hundred fifty four thousand pounds per
megawatt per year since January twenty twenty three. Richard
Sandford is B.P.'s Vice President of Offshore Wind. He says this
approval brings them closer to delivering large-scale, low-carbon
energy critical to the U.K.'s net zero goals. That's this week's
top news story. Join us tomorrow for the Uptime Wind Energy
Podcast.