Vestas Buys LM Wind Power Factory, Increased Data Center Demand

This week we discuss uncertainty surrounding the IRA bill, GEV Wind
Power's acquisition by Certek, and the sale of an LM Wind Power
factory to Vestas. Plus Blackstone is in talks to acquire TXNM
Energy, pointing to increase data center demand. Register for the
next SkySpecs webinar! Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly
email update on all things wind technology. This episode is
sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about
Weather Guard's StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS
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a part of the Clean Energy Revolution. Visit build turbines.com
today. Now here's your hosts, Allen Hall, Joel Saxum, Phil Totaro,
and Rosemary Barnes.  Allen Hall: Well, welcome to the
Uptime Wind Energy Podcast, Joel and Rosemary. It's been an
exciting week. A lot going on in a, in America in regards to what's
gonna happen with the IRA bill. Nobody knows the, it's like, uh, as
tense, as tense can be. You, you don't even really see a lot of
articles about it at the moment. Everybody's just in, in kind of
hold mode, like, hold your breath and hope something bad doesn't
happen. Joel Saxum: I think the interesting thing there is
when something like this pops up, you would tend to see a lot of
LinkedIn opinions and you're not. I think a lot of, a lot of people
are kind of moved. They're kind of, [00:01:00] nobody's
really saying too much. We're kind of waiting to see,  Allen
Hall: yeah, waiting for that spicy take. Usually from
Rosemary, but she hasn't written that article yet. It must be
coming. Rosemary.  Rosemary Barnes: Well, I haven't been
writing a lot of anything on LinkedIn recently. Um, yeah, a bit,
I'm bit busy. I got, I got really sick of, uh, LinkedIn as well
when I, I over posted for a few months and. I got over it. Started,
started to hate it when people would, would write a comment on my
post. Yeah. And I'm like, just stop talking to me. Go away. And I'm
like, yeah, you were the one who made this post. So you That was
my, that was my sign to, um, yeah, to, to move away for a little
while. Yeah. But it's also, uh, I mean, you know, like I, it's not
a topic that I am an expert in. 'cause obviously I'm, you know, I
don't live there, so I'm not, yeah. I have. I have heard a few
podcasts talking about it. Um, there's that one. Um, uh, do you
guys listen to that podcast? That's, it's
like [00:02:00] the original Energy gang crew, but none
of them are on the Energy Gang anymore. Now they've got their own
new podcast. It's like Dig Ashore. And, um, the other two, sorry, I
don't, I don't remember their, their names. Joel Saxum: They
just started  Allen Hall: that one.  Rosemary
Barnes: It's called, maybe it's called Open Circuit. 
Allen Hall: Oh, maybe I have, yes, I know what you're talking
about.  Rosemary Barnes: It, it's really good. It's very,
uh, it's too American Central for me to listen to every episode,
but for, you know, Americans then, I'm sure that that's, uh, that's
good. Um, they, they speculate a fair bit about it. Um, and also
the, um, podcast that has Jesse Jenkins on it, which is called
Shift Key, um, they talk about it a bit as well. So I have, I have
heard a fair few takes on it, but, um. Yeah, I don't know. I'm, I'm
waiting to see, to, to be honest, as a non-American, I've just
written off American Wind Power for the next few years and, uh, you
know, just like, wait, wait, wait a little while to like, uh, get
started again. But it, you know, it doesn't affect me so much. I
don't, I, I don't have [00:03:00]projects in America. Um, so
I. Not affected day to day,  Joel Saxum: a and a half a
dozen part load leads that I was in a hand, but now I'm not
gonna  Rosemary Barnes: do. You know what though? I, it
is actually incredibly challenging for me too because, um,
Australians and probably every non-American, like I, my business
insurance will not cover me in the us They just absolutely not.
There is not, it is not possible for me to get insurance. To do
projects in the us Um, and it would only be possible if I actually
started an American company. That would be the only way to do it.
So, um, that is a big disincentive for me to expand into America.
Um, just 'cause your legal system is very, very different to the
rest of the world and um, yeah, insurance companies won't take that
risk so. That's why that, that's why I'm not expending to America.
But you know, the rest of the world is a big place. So,  Allen
Hall: well, if you don't spend all your time on LinkedIn, then
maybe you can then join us on the webinar. We have an up on
Wednesday, May 28th at 11:00 AM East Coast, US and it's about
lightning damage and lightning [00:04:00] strikes and
it's one of another, one of the monthly Sky Specs webinars with uh,
PES Wind and the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast. We have some really
interesting guests. In this one, Matthew Stead from eLog Ping and
Matt Segal from EDF. So if you know Matt Segal, uh, he knows his
way around blades and blade repair and he has a really solid
approaches on how to deal with the damage, that's gonna be a great
discussion. So if you have lightning damage and pretty much every
operator that I've talked to has some lightning damage at the
moment, uh, you're gonna want to attend that. Webinars free. So
it's Wednesday, May 28th, 11:00 AM. East Coast and you just sign up
in the show notes below. Really simple  Joel Saxum: as
busy wind energy professionals, staying informed is crucial, and
let's face it difficult. That's why the Uptime podcast recommends
PES Wind Magazine. I. PES Wind offers a diverse range of in-depth
articles and expert [00:05:00] insights that dive into
the most pressing issues facing our energy future. Whether you're
an industry veteran or new to wind, PES Wind has the high quality
content you need. Don't miss out. Visit PS wind.com today. 
Allen Hall: So the big news of the week, well there's actually
a couple, uh, big news articles this week. Uh, GEV, wind Power,
which is a large repair company. Based in the uk, but they have a
lot of their business in the United States. Uh, was acquired by a
company called CEC and Joel just doing some research on cec. It
looks like a holding company. That's what it seems like to me. It's
owned by David Harrison, who is based in the uk and it just looks
like they're gonna continue to, uh, try to grow GEV, but it also
includes Wind Power Lab from Denmark and rig com. Joel
Saxum: From Australia. Yeah, they group their ctec. Um, I know
that GEV Wind Power is, um, they, they have huge plans for growth,
right? They've got the office in Dallas office
in [00:06:00] Poland, the Wind Power Lab office in
Copenhagen. Rig com office, I believe is in Melbourne, down in
Australia, down by Rosemary. And then they have of course the big
office for the UK and Hull and that's for offshore and onshore. Uh,
but they've also just not opened another office up in Canada. So
big, big expansion plans for GE v windpower. This CEC capital
injection, uh, is gonna help for sure, right? They've got a,
they've got a existing our infrastructure, uh, for the GEV
WINDPOWER group. Uh, and they're gonna keep 'em all in place and
they're just gonna con continue to grow. So, uh, look to see some
more things coming out of the, uh, GEV group. Put this injection to
cash.  Allen Hall: Yeah, because GEV, when Power Lab and
Rcom were part of the Bridges Fund, which was owned by Hojo 
Joel Saxum: Well Bridge, so Bridges was a technically a think
minority shareholder in the GEV group. Uh, but that was Goldman
Sachs money, uh, bridges was right. So now, now we're going, CTEC
is Macquarie money, so [00:07:00] Australian money. Being
injected in. Well,  Allen Hall: that does make a little
bit of sense though. Australia is gonna be a huge renewable
powerhouse. It already is. So it makes sense that a Australian
money would be involved in this because, uh, yeah, there's gonna be
a lot more wind turbines in solar activity in Australia. It's gonna
pick up pretty well, so might as well grab a company early while
you can and, and continue to grow it. The other thing that that
happened today was LM wind power. Selling a factory up in Poland to
Vestus. Now, we've all talked internally about what is happening at
LM Wind Power because they've had a a number of staff reductions
over the last year or so, and then they had the blade problem up in
Canada. It does seem like a lot of the design activities are moving
towards the United States from GEs point of
view. [00:08:00] That leaves a lot of LM factories with
that are making blades for somebody else. Rosemary, when you were
there, uh, LM did make blades for almost everybody for quite a
while. It looks like they still do, but now they're selling off the
non GE factories. Is that the plan?  Rosemary Barnes: I,
I don't know what the plan is. Uh, um, yeah, not inside anymore, so
I don't have any insider info, but, uh, I did spend. Quite a lot of
time actually at that factory in Glen. And it's definitely one of
my favorite, favorite wind turbine blade manufacturing facilities
that I ever visited. Um, they get a lot, they get a lot done there.
That is like what I could say. The team there is amazing. They, the
amount of stuff they can get through in, you know, one shift is
like. Double what it is in some other factories. So I think, you
know, from, from that perspective, without knowing what best has
paid for it, I think it's a, um, a good call if they get to keep
the personnel. Um, so yeah, [00:09:00] it, um, good for
Besters. I was actually looking at some information recently,
something unrelated, but I,