US energy giant GE Vernova (NYSE: GEV) has completed an expansion of its grid solutions business in Stafford, England to meet growing demand for high-voltage direct current (HVDC) cable in the offshore wind sector in the UK as well as Europe, Asia and North America.
GE Vernova built the HVDC valve test and a control system testing facility in 2018.
The latest expansion will see the firm double its capacity to produce voltage-sourced converter (VSC) valves, considered to be the “heart” of an HVDC converter station, as well as upgrades its site producing HVDC converter transformers.
The investment is taking place at two key sites of the electrification systems’ grid solutions business in Stafford, including its HVDC facility at Redhill which hosts the VSC valve assembly line and the transformer facility at Lichfield Rd, where transformers that have recently been installed in the North Sea to support the 1.4 GW Sofia Offshore Wind Farm were produced.
© Supplied by GE VernovaThe firm said the expansion marks its second major round of investment in its Stafford site. A spokeswoman for the firm said the investment would create 600 jobs over a three-years but declined to confirm the scale of GE Vernova’s investment.
GE Vernova, which is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, operates three manufacturing sites in Stafford. In addition to the HVDC site and the transformer site, it also has a grid automation site at Redhill. It said the ongoing expansion “ensures that Stafford continues to be a critical hub for the production of clean energy technologies, supporting both local and overseas energy needs”.
© Supplied by GE VernovaPhilippe Piron, GE Vernova’s chief executive of its electrification systems business was on hand was on hand to cut a ribbon on the improved facilities.
He said: “Helping our customers deliver sustainable, affordable, and reliable energy to people worldwide is central to GE Vernova’s mission.
“By expanding our Stafford operations, we are strengthening our ability to support the energy transition in the UK and the rest of the world and creating new jobs as a result.”
The business spun out of the US industrial giant GE in April when the historic business, founded by famous inventor Thomas Edison in the late 1800s, reorganised into three global operations focusing on aviation, healthcare and energy.
However, the firm recently warned it may cut about 900 jobs globally as it moves to shrink its offshore wind business to become “smaller, leaner and more profitable”.
GE Vernova’s grid solutions business recently signed an agreement to supply HVDC systems for five of TenneT’s offshore wind projects. These projects are part of the Dutch-German Transmission System Operator’s goal to connect 40 GW of offshore wind farms to high voltage grids in the Netherlands and Germany.
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