Siemens Gamesa wins U.S. ban on GE wind turbines in patent dispute

On Sept. 8, a U.S. federal judge in Boston barred General Electric Co. (GE, Boston, Mass., U.S.) from ‘‘making, using, offering for sale, selling, importing (into) or installing” its Haliade-X wind turbines in the U.S., after a jury found in June that the turbines infringed a patent owned by rival Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy A/S (Zamudio, Spain).

Siemens Gamesa sued GE in Massachusetts in 2020, claiming the Haliade-X turbines infringed its patents covering wind turbine technology. According to offshorewindbiz.org, the patent in question is “directed generally to a wind turbine, and specifically to a novel structural support arrangement for the turbine that enables wind turbines to be larger and/or handle increased loads, which in turn allows the wind turbine to generate more energy,” Siemens Gamesa said in its patent infringement complaint.

As reported by Reuters, U.S. District Judge William Young said Siemens Gamesa was entitled to the ban because it suffered irreparable harm, including a significant loss of market share to GE, based on the infringement. The patent GE infringed “provides a key element for the functionality of wind turbines,” allowing for larger motors and lowering the chances that the turbines fail.

However, Young also allowed GE to continue making and operating the turbines for existing projects off the coasts of Massachusetts and New Jersey with royalty payments to Siemens Gamesa, citing the “rapidly developing climate crisis” and the “thousands of jobs” the projects have created. This decision echoed a court brief last month where the state of New Jersey said applying the injunction to the project there would have “detrimental economic effects to New Jersey’s nascent offshore wind construction and service industry” and “imperil its greenhouse gas policy objectives.” Young also said GE could “design around” the patent in the future.

GE Renewable Energy noted in a statement that it is “exploring all legal options to ensure that we can continue to support the growth of offshore wind in the U.S., including an appeal of today’s ruling.” Siemens Gamesa and its attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

According to GE’s website, the Haliade-X offshore wind turbines features a 14, 13 or 12-megawatt (MW) capacity, 220-meter rotor, a 107-meter blade and digital capabilities. A new blade manufacturing facility in Teeside, U.K. announced in March 2021 is expected to begin production of the offshore wind turbine blades in 2023. In December 2020, GE Renewable Energy (Paris, France) was confirmed the wind turbine supplier for Dogger Bank C, the third phase of the U.K.’s 3.6-gigawatt (GW) Dogger Bank Wind Farm, which is set to be the world’s largest offshore wind farm upon expected completion in 2026. In addition, the Vineyard Wind 1 project located 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts is expected to include several 13 MW Haliade-X offshore wind turbines to meet its 800 MW capacity.