EDP orders 500 MW of wind turbine capacity

24 October 2007


Portugal's EDP has signed an agreement with GE Energy for the supply of 500 MW of wind turbines for projects to be developed in 2008 and 2009.

The projects will be located in the USA and Europe by EDP's US and European subsidiaries. EDP recently purchased US-based Horizon Wind Energy as part of its expansion strategy.

GE will supply 80 2.5xl wind turbines to Neo Energia for the development of new projects in Europe, and will supply 201 units to Horizon for projects in the USA. The agreement brings GE Energy's recent wind turbine order announcements to over $1 billion, and meets EDP's turbine needs for 2008 and 2009.

"In the US and around the world, we continue to see strong interest in the production of cleaner, wind-generated electricity," said Victor Abate, Vice President-Renewables for GE Energy. "In the US alone, more than 2,400 megawatts of new wind power was installed in 2006 while worldwide, more than 15,000 megawatts were installed, according to the Global Wind Energy Council."

According to Mr. António Mexia, CEO of EDP, "This frame agreement with GE nearly completes EDP's wind turbine needs until 2009, which is particularly important for the success of our upcoming projects, given the high demand for wind turbines in today's market. EDP promised the wind industry we would deliver and this is an important step to achieve the goals announced in terms of built megawatts per year."

The European phase of the frame agreement represents GE's largest supply of 2.5xl wind turbines to date. Introduced last year, the 2.5xl is the largest GE wind turbine for onshore applications and is designed to meet the requirements of the European Union, where the lack of available land constrains the size of projects.

Sixty-six of the 2.5xl units will be provided for new wind farms in Spain. These projects are owned by the wind farm developer Neo Energia, which accounts for about 14 per cent of the Iberian wind market.

The wind industry is well established in Iberia. According to the European Wind Energy Association, Spain had 11 615 MW of installed wind capacity at the beginning of 2007, ranking third in the world behind Germany and the United States, while Portugal had 1716 MW.

Fourteen of the GE 2.5xl machines will be supplied for a new wind farm located in Belgium belonging to an affiliate of Neo Energia.

Interest in wind energy continues to grow in Belgium, which had 188 MW of installed wind capacity at the start of 2007 compared to 45 MW five years ago.

All of the US projects will be owned by Horizon Wind Energy or affiliates. Sixty-seven of the GE wind turbines for the US projects and 30 turbines for the European projects are expected to be commissioned before the end of 2008.




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