AmericasOffshoreRenewables

Patent dispute threatens US offshore wind projects

A lawsuit currently being heard in a Massachusetts courtroom will settle a patent lawsuit filed by Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy against GE Renewable Energy related to GE’s Haliade-X wind turbines.

A Boston jury found in June that GE had infringed Siemens Gamesa’s US patent no. 9,279,413 for an offshore direct-drive turbine’s structural support mechanism and the arrangement of the main shaft bearings.

Siemens Gamesa then sought a permanent injunction to preclude GE and its subsidiaries from “making, using, offering for sale, selling, importing (into), or installing in the United States (including its continental shelf)” any Haliade-X turbines.

The Haliade-X turbines are planned for use in the Vineyard Wind project off the coast of Massachusetts, and in the Ocean Wind project off New Jersey, and GE has requested that both projects be exempt from the injunction.

Vineyard Wind CEO Klaus Skoust Moeller last week filed a statement with the court, saying: “If the court issued such an injunction, the project would collapse.”

Siemens Gamesa has formally proposed an exemption for the 62 planned turbines for the Vineyard Wind project.

This week, New Jersey filed an amicus brief with the Massachusetts court, arguing that the state’s offshore wind goals would be jeopardised if the 98-turbine Ocean Wind project is not also exempt from the injunction. This after David Hardy, CEO and president of Orsted North America – which is developing the project with Public Service Enterprise Group – submitted a statement to the court similar to Moeller’s, saying the project would likely be cancelled if the Haliade-X turbines could not be used, as having to source different turbines would cause years-long delays.

Under the injunction, GE and its subsidiaries would be prohibited from using Haliade-X turbines until Siemen Gamesa’s patent expires in 2034.

Kim Biggar

Kim Biggar started writing in the supply chain sector in 2000, when she joined the Canadian Association of Supply Chain & Logistics Management. In 2004/2005, she was project manager for the Government of Canada-funded Canadian Logistics Skills Committee, which led to her 13-year role as communications manager of the Canadian Supply Chain Sector Council. A longtime freelance writer, Kim has contributed to publications including The Forwarder, 3PL Americas, The Shipper Advocate and Supply Chain Canada.
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