General Electric Co. (GE) was blocked by a federal judge in Boston from making or selling its Haliade-X offshore wind turbines in the USA. US District Judge William Young granted an injunction requested by Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) after a jury in June found that GE’s design infringed a patent held by SGRE.
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
However, the US turbine company will still be able to supply Haliade-X machines to the 800MW Vineyard Wind and 1.1GW Ocean Wind 1 projects under a specific ‘carve-out’ in the ruling. “The world is currently facing a rapidly developing climate crisis,” the judge wrote in explaining the reason for a carve out to allow the construction of the two projects to continue. “Delaying large-scale wind energy projects can impact efforts to combat this crisis.”
GE said it has alternative design options it can and will explore to keep the Haliade-X on the market in the USA, and that it was exploring all legal options, including an appeal of Young’s ruling.
Siemens Gamesa said it welcomed the ruling, adding it would continue to defend its intellectual property rights for wind turbine technology.
The case is Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy AS v. General Electric Co., 21-cv-10216, US District Court, District of Massachusetts (Boston).
(source Bloomberg)
